Federal judge again blocks Trump ban on Harvard international students
A federal judge has blocked a move by the Trump administration to bar Harvard from accepting international students over campus safety concerns.
This is the second time the judge has stopped such efforts from the administration.
A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from banning international students from enrolling at Harvard University, for the second time.
President Donald Trump issued a proclamation on Wednesday barring international students from enrolling at Harvard—citing concerns relating to citing concerns of rising campus violence as well as its ties to foreign adversaries of the United States.
“Harvard University continues to flout the civil rights of its students and faculty, triggering multiple Federal investigations,” Trump’s proclamation says.
However, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs of Massachusetts issued a temporary stay on Thursday, blocking the President’s ban.
Burroughs reportedly said that without the temporary restraining order that she issued, the university would suffer “immediate and irreparable injury before there is an opportunity to hear from all parties,” according to CBS News.
The administration’s attempted ban was especially concerned about Harvard’s ties to China. The school has received over $150 million in donations from China from 2015-2024 and has reportedly hosted members of the Chinese Communist Party’s paramilitary.
This is the second time Burroughs has intervened to stop the Trump administration’s attempts to cut Harvard off from accepting students from foreign countries.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem informed Harvard on May 22 that the department was suspending the institution’s Student Exchange and Visitor Program because the university had failed to comply with federal reporting requirements.
Yet, on May 23, Burroughs granted a Temporary Restraining Order to the university—effectively blocking the federal government’s maneuver.
When the administration again worked to achieve the same goal, Harvard filed a lawsuit challenging the president’s decision, arguing that it unlawfully attempted to negate an earlier judicial injunction that stopped the DHS from banning the university from granting enrollment to international students; Burroughs again sided with the Ivy League school against the Trump administration.
Campus Reform contacted Harvard University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
