Harvard sues Trump administration over ban on enrolling foreign students

Harvard University is challenging the Trump administration's decision to from enrolling international students, calling it unconstitutional retaliation for defying the White House's political demands.

In a lawsuit filed on Friday in federal court in Boston, Harvard said the government's action violates the First Amendment and will have an “immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders.”

“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard's student body, international students who contribute significantly to the University and its mission,” Harvard said in its suit. The school said it plans to file for a temporary restraining order to block the Department of Homeland Security from carrying out the move.

Harvard enrols almost 6,800 overseas students at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Most are graduate students and they come from more than 100 countries.

The department announced the action on Thursday, accusing Harvard of creating an unsafe campus environment by allowing “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” to assault Jewish students on campus. It also accused Harvard of coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party, contending that the school had hosted and trained members of a Chinese paramilitary group as recently as 2024.

Meanwhile, hours after the order banning Harvard from enrolling overseas students, the Trump administration also accused Columbia University of violating the civil rights of Jewish students by “acting with deliberate indifference” toward what it describes as rampant antisemitism on campus.

Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard. https://t.co/V8uvTNaL64

— Harvard University (@Harvard) May 23, 2025

The finding was announced late on Thursday by the health and human services department, marking the latest blow for an Ivy League school already shaken by federal cutbacks and sustained government pressure to crack down on student speech.

Harvard president Alan Garber earlier this month said the university has made changes to its governance over the past year-and-a-half, including a broad strategy to combat antisemitism. He said Harvard would not budge on its “core, legally-protected principles” over fears of retaliation. Harvard has said it will respond at a later time to allegations first raised by House Republicans about coordination with the Chinese Communist Party.

The threat to Harvard's international enrollment stems from an 16 April request from homeland security secretary Kristi Noem, who demanded that Harvard provide information about overseas students that might implicate them in violence or protests that could lead to their deportation.

Noem said Harvard can regain its ability to host international students if it produces a trove of records on such students within 72 hours. Her updated request demands all records, including audio or video footage, of such students participating in protests or "dangerous activity" on campus.

The current suit is separate from challenging more than $2 billion in federal cuts imposed by the Republican administration.

Columbia University president Claire Shipman was booed by graduates at a graduation ceremony.

This comes after the university complied with Donald Trump’s demands. pic.twitter.com/FtgbXSyJqK

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) May 20, 2025

With respect to Columbia, the health and human services department said its office of civil rights had found the university in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which blocks federal funding recipients from discrimination based on race, colour or national origin. That final category includes "discrimination against individuals that is based on their actual or perceived Israeli or Jewish identity or ancestry”, the press release states.

The announcement did not include new sanctions against Columbia, which is already facing USD 400 million in federal cuts over what the Trump administration describes as its permissive approach to antisemitism on campus.

A spokesperson for Columbia said the university is currently negotiating with the government about a resolution to those allegations. “We understand this finding is part of our ongoing discussions with the government,” the spokesperson said in an email. “Columbia is deeply committed to combatting antisemitism and all forms of harassment and discrimination on our campus.”

Last spring, Columbia became the epicentre of protests against the war in Gaza, spurring a national movement of . At the time, some Jewish students and faculty complained about being harassed during the demonstrations or ostracised because of their faith or their support of Israel.

Those who participated in Columbia's protests, including some Jewish students, have said they are protesting Israel's actions against Palestinians and have forcefully denied allegations of antisemitism.

With AP/PTI inputs