Harvard adds latest Trump ban on foreign students to lawsuit

(Patria) - Harvard on Thursday added a Donald Trump proclamation banning new foreign students from entering the United States to its existing legal action against the administration, which it accuses of "retaliation", AFP reported.

The proclamation, issued late Wednesday by the White House, states that the entry of international students seeking to begin their studies at Harvard will be "suspended and limited" for six months and that existing foreign students risk having their visas revoked.

"Harvard's conduct has made it an unsuitable destination for foreign students and researchers," the order states.

In an amended lawsuit filed in federal court, Harvard said "this is not the administration's first attempt to separate Harvard from its international students".

"(It) is part of a coordinated and escalating campaign of government retaliation as clear retaliation for Harvard's exercise of its First Amendment rights to reject government demands to control Harvard's management, curriculum, and the 'ideology' of its teachers and students."

Wednesday's announcement followed a judge's halt to earlier attempts by the Trump administration to revoke Harvard's right to enroll and admit foreign students. Harvard quickly filed a lawsuit against that attempt on May 23, expanding the lawsuit on Thursday to include the latest legal pressure.

The government has already cut federal grants and contracts in favor of Harvard by about $3.2 billion and has promised to exclude the institution in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from any future federal funding.

Harvard has been at the forefront of Trump's campaign against leading universities after defying his calls to submit to oversight of its curriculum, staff, student recruitment, and "diversity of views".

Trump has also targeted international students at Harvard, who made up 27 percent of the total enrollment for the 2024/25 academic year and are a major source of revenue. In its filing, Harvard acknowledged that Trump has the authority to ban the entry of entire classes of foreigners if deemed to be in the public interest, but stressed that this is not the case in this proceeding.

"The President's actions are therefore not taken to protect the 'interests of the United States,' but rather for government revenge against Harvard," it states.

Since returning to office, Trump has targeted elite American universities, which he and his allies accuse of being hotbeds of antisemitism, liberal bias, and "woke" ideology.

Trump's Secretary of Education threatened Columbia University with revocation of accreditation on Wednesday. He targeted the Ivy League institution for allegedly ignoring harassment of Jewish students, questioning all of its federal funding.

Unlike Harvard, several top institutions, including Columbia, have already succumbed to the far-reaching demands of the Trump administration.