Harvard is suing the Trump administration after it revoked the university’s ability to enrol international students, escalating a dispute between the White House and one of America’s most prestigious institutions.
In the suit filed in Boston, the university called the administration’s actions a “blatant violation” of the law.
It comes a day after officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said they would be revoking Harvard’s access to student visa programmes.
The Trump administration says Harvard has not done enough to fight antisemitism and change its hiring and admissions practices – allegations that the university has strongly denied.
There are around 6 800 international students at Harvard, who make up more than 27 per cent of its enrolments this year.
“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 argued in the lawsuit.
The university is asking for a court order to halt a move the DHS made on Thursday to revoke Harvard’s access to the Student and Exchange Visitor Programme – a government database that manages foreign students.
“We condemn this unlawful and unwarranted action,” Harvard President Alan Garber said in a letter.
“The revocation continues a series of government actions to retaliate against Harvard for our refusal to surrender our academic independence and to submit to the federal government’s illegal assertion of control over our curriculum, our faculty, and our student body,” he wrote.
In response, White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson said: “If only Harvard cared this much about ending the scourge of anti-American, anti-Semitic, pro-terrorist agitators on their campus they wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with.
“Harvard should spend their time and resources on creating a safe campus environment instead of filing frivolous lawsuits,” Jackson said in a statement. (BBC)
