Harvard University has expanded its legal action against the government of President Donald Trump to challenge a recent measure that aims to prevent its international students from entering the United States.
On Thursday, the prestigious Ivy League institution submitted an amended complaint, stating that Trump’s latest executive order infringes upon the rights of the school and its students.
The day before, Trump had issued an executive order that asserts the necessity of restricting the entry of foreign nationals who come to the United States “solely or principally” to attend Harvard. He labeled these students as a “class of aliens” whose arrival would be “detrimental to the interests of the United States” and claimed the legal authority to deny their entry under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
However, in Harvard’s court filing, the university dismissed Trump’s argument as part of his ongoing efforts to harm the institution.
“President’s actions… are not undertaken to protect the United States, but instead to pursue a government vendetta against Harvard,” the amended complaint read.
The complaint also pointed out that by issuing the new executive order, the Trump administration was trying to circumvent a pre-existing court order that stopped the government from preventing Harvard from registering foreign students.
Harvard has asked US District Judge Allison Burroughs in Massachusetts to extend her temporary restraining order to include Trump’s latest action against its international students.
“More than 7,000 F-1 and J-1 visa holders and their dependents at Harvard have become pawns in the government’s campaign of retaliation,” the university said in the filing.
Trump’s campaign against Harvard and other elite universities began earlier this year after he took office for a second term. He criticized these institutions for not taking stronger action against Palestinian solidarity protests on their campuses following Israel’s conflict with Gaza. Protests that Trump called anti-Semitic, and he threatened to deport students involved. Organizers of the demonstrations argued for their non-violent intent and accused Trump of seeking to exert greater control over the nation’s universities.
Columbia University, another Ivy League school, faced $400 million in federal funding cuts in early March. The school then agreed to demands from the Trump administration, including revisions to its disciplinary policies and a review of its Middle East studies program.
Harvard, on the other hand, refused to meet the administration’s demands, which included ending diversity programs and allowing federal audits of its hiring and admissions processes. The Trump administration responded by revoking billions of dollars in federal funding, threatening to end Harvard’s tax-exempt status, and barring the school from future research grants.
Trump also threatened the school’s international student enrollment, almost a quarter of its student population, by revoking its access to the Student Exchange Visitor Program. This would have forced currently enrolled students to transfer and prevented the acceptance of international students.
On May 23, Judge Burroughs granted an emergency petition from Harvard for a restraining order to stop the restriction, though the Trump administration has continued to express pressure on Harvard and other universities.
Just last week, for example, the administration accused Columbia University of failing to meet federal civil rights laws in a letter to its accreditor.
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/6/harvard-challenges-trumps-efforts-to-block-us-entry-for-foreign-students?traffic_source=rss
