Saturday, June 21, 2025

Harvard wins effort to preserve international students

 

Harvard University has sued the Trump administration to preserve its ability to enroll international students and restore draconian cuts in research money, two matters that threaten the core functions of the centuries-old institution.

A federal judge in Massachusetts, Allison D. Burroughs, an appointee of President Barack Obama, is presiding over both cases. She has often sided with Harvard, including on June 5 when she issued a temporary restraining order against the administration’s latest move to bar international students.

On both fronts, the Trump administration has said that it is punishing Harvard because it has failed to keep Jewish students safe by allowing antisemitism to flourish. It has added on to these accusations as the court fights have drawn on, saying that the university has used racial preferences in admissions in defiance of a Supreme Court ruling and that it has broken rules related to foreign gifts.

Harvard has denied the accusations. It says the administration is ignoring its efforts to protect the civil rights of its Jewish students, for example. And Harvard has argued that the federal government has violated its First Amendment rights and has ignored due process as it pursues its vendetta against the university.

On June 20, Judge Burroughs issued a three-page preliminary injunction, blocking the Trump administration’s actions to prevent international students from enrolling as the case works through the courts. The order said the government was forbidden from “implementing, instituting, maintaining, or giving any force or effect” to the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to force Harvard out of the international student program.


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