Harvard sues Trump admin for its ban on school enrolling international students

(CAMBRIDGE, Mass.) — Harvard University sued the Trump administration Friday, alleging that the decision to revoke the school’s ability to enroll international students “is a blatant violation of the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause, and the Administrative Procedure Act.”

The Trump administration said on Thursday the school lost its ability to use the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (which allows for noncitizens to study at the university under a specific visa) because it had not complied with demands sent last month to supply information on student visa holders.

“As a result of your refusal to comply with multiple requests to provide the Department of Homeland Security pertinent information while perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies, and employs racist ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ policies, you have lost this privilege,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote in a letter to the university.

Harvard President Alan Gerber pushed back in a message to the university on Friday.

“The government has claimed that its destructive action is based on Harvard’s failure to comply with requests for information from the US Department of Homeland Security. In fact, Harvard did respond to the Department’s requests as required by law,” Gerber said.

In its complaint, Harvard said there is “no lawful justification” for canceling the status.

The school accused the administration of waging an “unprecedented and retaliatory attack” because the university supports policies the administration doesn’t like.

“The government has casually discarded core First Amendment protections, the protections of procedural due process, and DHS’s own regulations to immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and its community. Harvard’s more than 7,000 F-1 and J-1 visa holders — and their dependents — have become pawns in the government’s escalating campaign of retaliation,” the complaint reads.

The dispute over international students is the latest development in the administration’s standoff with one of the country’s most prestigious universities.

Trump has threatened the school’s tax-exempt status and is withholding billions in federal funding after the school’s refusal to comply with the administration’s demands regarding campus policies and governance, including actions on antisemitism and the use of DEI on campus.

Noem wrote to Harvard in April requesting a tranche of information be given to DHS in order for the school to retain its SEVP status.

According to the letter, she asked Harvard to give information over on student visa holder’s “known” illegally activity; violent activity; threats to students or faculty; disciplinary actions taken as a result of being involved in a protest; information on whether the student obstructed the school’s learning environment; and the coursework that the student is taking to maintain the visa status.

Noem said the school did not provide adequate information in response, and that it is a “privilege, not a right” for students to study at American universities.

The latest poll by ABC News/Washington Post found most Americans (66%) took Harvard’s side in the conflict. Thirty-two percent of respondents sided with the Trump administration.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.