Trump admin blocks Harvard from enrolling international students

The Trump administration has revoked Harvard University’s ability to enrol international students, Africanews via AP reported on May 23rd.

The move, announced on May 22nd by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), escalates the administration’s ongoing clash with the Ivy League institution.

This development also jeopardizes the legal status of nearly 6,800 foreign students currently enrolled at Harvard, most of whom are graduate students from over 100 nations.

The action has since been momentarily blocked by US District Judge Allison Burroughs, who issued a temporary restraining order freezing the DHS policy from going into affect for two weeks, Sky News reported on May 23rd.

In a statement, DHS accused Harvard of fostering an “unsafe campus environment,” citing incidents involving “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” and alleged failures to protect Jewish students. It also claimed the university had trained members of a Chinese paramilitary group, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, as recently as 2024.

“This means Harvard can no longer enrol foreign students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status,” the agency said.

Harvard responded by calling the action unlawful and retaliatory. “This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard’s academic and research mission,” the university said in a statement. It pledged to guide and support students as it challenges the decision.

This aims to revoke Harvard’s certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Programme, which authorizes institutions to sponsor visas for international students. According to DHS, Harvard can regain this ability by producing records on foreign students involved in campus protests or dangerous activity including audio or video footage, within 72 hours.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the sanction was “the unfortunate result of Harvard’s failure to comply with simple reporting requirements.” She also linked the action to broader accusations that the university coordinated with the Chinese Communist Party.

Harvard has denied any wrongdoing. President Alan Garber said the university has made governance reforms and adopted a strategy to tackle antisemitism, but rejected the idea of penalising students based on nationality or political expression.

The revocation follows a string of federal actions against Harvard, including the withdrawal of $2.6 billion in federal research funding and threats to strip the university of its tax-exempt status. The administration has also demanded protest records from multiple elite universities, part of a wider campaign to scrutinise higher education institutions accused of fostering antisemitism or failing to curb unrest.

Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, condemned the move recent move as “an illegal, small-minded overreach” and warned it could deter prospective international students from choosing US universities.

Africanews via AP, Sky News