CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Harvard University is taking the Trump administration to court, accusing it of retaliation and constitutional violations after Homeland Security moved to revoke the school’s ability to host international students.
The decision, announced Thursday, threatens the legal status of more than 7,000 Harvard visa holders and bars new international enrollment for at least two academic years.
“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,” the university wrote in its lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court in Boston. “Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.”
The suit argues that the ban violates the First Amendment and is a direct punishment for the university’s refusal to comply with political demands issued by the White House and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
A political crackdown disguised as policy
The lawsuit comes after Homeland Security accused Harvard of fostering an “unsafe campus environment” and enabling “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” to target Jewish students.
Officials also alleged that Harvard coordinated with the Chinese Communist Party and hosted paramilitary operatives as recently as 2024—claims the university says are unsubstantiated and politically motivated.
Secretary Noem’s office delivered an ultimatum: Harvard could regain its ability to host foreign students if it surrendered detailed records, including audio and video of foreign student protesters, within 72 hours.
A devastating blow to students, research, and reputation
The effects are already being felt across campus. Graduate programs like the Harvard Kennedy School, where nearly half the student body comes from abroad, and Harvard Business School, with one-third international students, are bracing for disruption.
International students are deeply embedded in Harvard’s academic ecosystem—leading labs, teaching undergraduates, and powering research that reaches far beyond campus. Without federal certification, the university said, current students face legal limbo, and incoming students will be locked out entirely.
“Even if it regains the ability to host students,” the lawsuit warns, “future applicants may shy away from applying out of fear of further reprisals from the government.”
At the center: protest, policy, and the future of academic freedom
This is not the first time Harvard has pushed back on federal overreach. The new lawsuit follows a separate legal challenge over $2 billion in federal funding cuts. But this time, the stakes are different: the legal status of students, the integrity of academic freedom, and the message the U.S. sends to global scholars.
Harvard President Alan Garber previously affirmed the school’s commitment to addressing antisemitism and enhancing campus governance, but also made clear the university won’t bend to pressure that undermines civil liberties.
The university has not yet responded to accusations from House Republicans about links to the Chinese government, but said a response is forthcoming.
“Harvard is not Harvard” without its global community
Harvard says it’s seeking an emergency order to block the Trump administration’s decision and prevent what it calls an “immediate and devastating effect” on its students and mission.
For now, the university and thousands of international students remain in limbo—caught in a political storm that risks turning America’s campuses into ideological battlegrounds.