US judge blocks Trump bid to bar foreign students from Harvard, citing free speech violations

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - This file picture shows people walking through Harvard Yard on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts April 15, 2025. US District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston issued an injunction barring US President Donald Trump’s administration from carrying out its latest bid to curtail Harvard’s ability to host international students amid an escalating fight pitting the Republican president against the prestigious Ivy League school. — AFP pic

BOSTON, June 24 — A federal judge on Monday blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from implementing his plan to bar foreign nationals from entering the United States to study at Harvard University.

US District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston issued an injunction barring Trump’s administration from carrying out its latest bid to curtail Harvard’s ability to host international students amid an escalating fight pitting the Republican president against the prestigious Ivy League school.

The preliminary injunction extends a temporary order the judge issued on June 5 that prevented the administration from enforcing a proclamation Trump signed a day earlier that cited national security concerns to justify why Harvard could no longer be trusted to host international students.

She ruled after Trump’s Friday announcement that his administration could announce a deal with Harvard “over the next week or so” to resolve the White House’s campaign against the university, which has waged a legal battle against the administration’s various actions against the school.

Trump signed the proclamation after his administration had already frozen billions of dollars in funding to the oldest and wealthiest US university, threatened Harvard’s tax-exempt status and launched several investigations into the school.

The proclamation prohibited foreign nationals from entering the US to study at Harvard or participate in exchange visitor programs for an initial period of six months, and directed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to consider whether to revoke visas of international students already enrolled at Harvard.

But Burroughs said Trump’s administration was likely violating Harvard’s free speech rights under the US Constitution’s First Amendment by retaliating against it for refusing to meet its demands to cede control over the school’s curriculum and admissions and by targeting it based on what officials viewed as the university’s left-leaning orientation.

The judge said that “at its root, this case is about core constitutional rights that must be safeguarded: freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and freedom of speech, each of which is a pillar of a functioning democracy and an essential hedge against authoritarianism.”

“Here, the government’s misplaced efforts to control a reputable academic institution and squelch diverse viewpoints seemingly because they are, in some instances, opposed to this Administration’s own views, threaten these rights,” she wrote.

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Harvard said the ruling will allow it to continue hosting international students and scholars while this case moves forward. It added it will continue to defend the rights of the school, its students and scholars.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The university has filed two separate lawsuits before Burroughs, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, seeking to unfreeze around US$2.5 billion (RM10.6 billion) in funding and to prevent the administration from blocking the ability of international students to attend the university.

The latter lawsuit was filed after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on May 22 announced that her department was immediately revoking Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, which allows it to enrol foreign students.

Almost 6,800 international students attended Harvard in its most recent school year, making up about 27 per cent of its student population.

Noem, without providing evidence, accused the university of “fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party.”

Her action was temporarily blocked by Burroughs almost immediately. While the Department of Homeland Security has since shifted to challenging Harvard’s certification through a lengthier administrative process, Burroughs at a May 29 hearing said she planned to issue an injunction to maintain the status quo, which she did officially on Friday.

A week after the hearing, Trump signed his proclamation, which cited concerns about Harvard’s acceptance of foreign money including from China and what it said was an inadequate response by the school to his administration’s demand for information on foreign students.

His administration has accused Harvard of creating an unsafe environment for Jewish students and allowing antisemitism to fester on its campus. Protests over US ally Israel’s treatment of Palestinians during its war in Gaza have roiled numerous universities’ campuses, including Harvard’s.

Rights advocates have noted rising antisemitism and Islamophobia in the US due to the war. The Trump administration has thus far announced no action over anti-Arab and anti-Muslim hate. Harvard’s own antisemitism and Islamophobia task forces found widespread fear and bigotry at the university in reports released in late April. — Reuters