 "Indian students at Harvard University raised objections to the visit of Pakistani delegates to the campus. Reuters/File Photo")
US President Donald Trump’s administration has moved to revoke Harvard University’s ability to enrol international students and has forced existing foreign students to transfer to other schools or lose their legal status.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordered the department to terminate Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification effective for the 2025-2026 school year, the department said in a statement.
“Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country,” she wrote late Thursday.
The Trump 2.0 administration has been fighting a battle against the Ivy League school ever since it took office in January. From fund cuts to stringent rules, the US government has launched a crackdown on the supposed antisemitism on Harvard’s campus.
Harvard enrolled nearly 6,800 international students in the 2024-2025 school year, amounting to 27 per cent of its total enrollment, according to university statistics.
Meanwhile, the government has also said that it will widen its crackdown on other universities as part of its wider campaign to fight antisemitism on college campuses.
The move came after Harvard refused to provide information that Noem demanded about some foreign student visa holders at Harvard, the department said.
In a letter to the university, Noem gave Harvard “the opportunity” to regain its certification by turning over within 72 hours a raft of records about foreign students, including any video or audio of their protest activity in the past five years.
‘Unlawful’
The university has said that Trump’s move to block the admission of foreign students will affect thousands of students and is illegal, amounting to retaliation.
Harvard called the government’s action “unlawful” and said it was “fully committed” to educating foreign students.
“We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard’s ability to host our international students and scholars, who hail from more than 140 countries and enrich the University – and this nation – immeasurably,” the university said.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“We are working quickly to provide guidance and support to members of our community. This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard’s academic and research mission,” it added.
With inputs from agencies