Harvard’s leadership has asked a court to stop the Trump administration’s latest attempt to block international students — over a fourth of its student body — from coming to the university, according to a new court filing less than 24 hours after the latest move by President Donald Trump against the university.
The filing amends an existing lawsuit against the Trump administration over the move to ban its ability to enroll international students, which initially prompted a judge to stop the administration from revoking Harvard’s student visa program.
The amended lawsuit claims Trump’s proclamation, which suspends international visas for new students at Harvard, violates the First Amendment by temporarily blocking the entry of nearly all new international Harvard students under visas most use to study at US universities or participate in academic exchange programs. International students make up about 27% of the student body at the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university.
Trump’s proclamation directs the Secretary of State “to consider revoking” those visas – known as F, M and J visas – for current Harvard students who meet the proclamation’s “criteria,” the White House said in a statement.
“With the stroke of a pen, the DHS Secretary and the President have sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the University and its mission and the country,” the amended complaint reads.
“Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard,” it says.
The visa program, which allows international students “to enter the United States on nonimmigrant visas to enroll at Harvard and thousands of other schools, have boosted America’s academic, scientific, and economic success and its global standing,” the lawsuit says.
In its amended lawsuit, Harvard rebutted claims by the White House that the proclamation is an attempt to “safeguard national security” and said it represents “a government vendetta against Harvard.”
“It escalates and intensifies the campaign of retaliation in violation of the First Amendment,” the amended suit reads. “… Just as the revocation unconstitutionally intrudes on academic freedom, the Proclamation unconstitutionally intrudes too.”
Trump’s proclamation hinges on a statute that gives the president authority to protect the nation from “any class of aliens whose entry would be detrimental” to the interests of the US, according to the document. But Harvard argues Trump is not suspending entry for any such class: “To the contrary, nonimmigrants may enter the country unabated, as long as they do not attend Harvard,” the lawsuit reads.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
What did the original complaint include?
Harvard’s initial complaint pushing back against the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict foreign students, filed May 23, argued the revocation of its certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program by the Department of Homeland Security was “clear retaliation” for its refusal of the government’s ideologically rooted policy demands.
Hours after the initial complaint was filed, US District Court Judge Allison Burroughs temporarily blocked DHS’ decision to drop Harvard from SEVP, which would have made it impossible for the university to host any international students. Burroughs said she would issue an indefinite order preventing DHS from making any changes to Harvard’s international student visa programs.
The amended complaint says the proclamation “is a patent effort to do an end-run around” the judge’s order. “What the DHS Secretary has purported to take away on the back end by revoking Harvard’s certifications to host foreign students, the President purports to take away on the front end by preventing the students and scholars invited to Harvard from gaining entry into the country in the first place,” the complaint reads.
While Harvard has argued in legal filings that White House orders were behind the DHS move to revoke its ability to host international students, Wednesday’s proclamation marked the first time Trump has became directly involved in the dispute at the center of his broader battle against elite US academics.
Harvard “will continue to protect its international students,” its spokesperson told CNN following the president’s proclamation. “This is yet another illegal retaliatory step taken by the Administration in violation of Harvard’s First Amendment rights.”
Harvard is battling the White House on two fronts – both of which are being overseen by Judge Burroughs. The university filed its first lawsuit against the Trump administration for cutting more than $2.2 billion in federal funds and threatening billions more, as well as Harvard’s tax-exempt status. That money remains frozen as the case is pending in court, scheduled for arguments next month.
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