A person wears a stole with the flags of the US and El Salvador as Harvard community members rally to “support and celebrate” the university’s international students.
Donald Trump has suspended, for an initial six months, the entry of foreign students aiming to study or participate in exchange programs at Harvard University.
The former U.S. president issued the proclamation on Wednesday, citing “national security” concerns and deeming it “detrimental” to U.S. interests to continue admitting international students at the institution.
Harvard responded by calling the order “retaliatory” and emphasized its commitment to protecting its international students, according to Reuters.
Trump’s announcement marks a further escalation in an ongoing legal dispute with one of America’s most prestigious universities, following Harvard’s refusal in April to comply with a series of demands from the White House.
The order came just days after a judge blocked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from banning international students from attending Harvard.
In his proclamation, Trump accused Harvard of having “extensive entanglements” with foreign countries and “flouting the civil rights of its students and faculty.”
“Given these facts, I have determined that it is necessary to restrict the entry of foreign nationals who seek to enter the United States solely or primarily to study at Harvard University,” he stated.
The order also suspends visas for international students involved in exchange programs and instructs the Secretary of State to consider revoking current visas of students already enrolled at Harvard.
The suspension could be extended beyond the initial six-month period.
The White House claimed Harvard had failed to provide the DHS with sufficient information about “foreign students’ known illegal or dangerous activities,” citing incomplete data on just three students.
Harvard issued a statement calling the order “yet another illegal retaliatory step taken by the administration in violation of Harvard’s First Amendment rights,” Reuters reported.
The university, which holds the largest endowment in the world, has been locked in a legal battle with the Trump administration since federal funding was frozen and the university was accused of not adequately addressing antisemitism on campus.
Last month, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem revoked the certification Harvard needs to enroll foreign students — a decision that was promptly blocked by a judge.
Another federal judge upheld that ruling last Thursday, allowing international students to remain at Harvard while the legal case continues.
However, Trump’s new proclamation once again places the futures of thousands of international students in jeopardy.
For the 2024–2025 academic year, Harvard enrolled nearly 7,000 international students — about 27% of its student body.
Just last week, a Chinese student at Harvard called for unity during the university’s graduation ceremony, days after Trump vowed to “aggressively” revoke visas for Chinese students.
In recent months, the Trump administration has intensified its scrutiny of higher education institutions, accusing them of failing to combat antisemitism amid campus protests against the war in Gaza.
Earlier on Wednesday, the White House also threatened to revoke Columbia University’s accreditation over allegations it violated the civil rights of Jewish students. Photo by Joseph Williams, Wikimedia commons.