Harvard University said the Trump administration’s ban on enrolling international students is already causing harm and spreading fear, even though a judge has temporarily barred the order from taking effect.
US customs officials at Boston Logan International Airport ordered secondary screenings of Harvard visa holders — including a former head of state who’s a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School — immediately after the Department of Homeland Security issued the ban on May 22, a school official said in a court filing Wednesday.
At least 10 students and scholars had their visa applications denied by US embassy officials, the university said. Harvard sued President Donald Trump’s administration on May 23, and US District Judge Allison Burroughs blocked the ban about two hours later. But the damage has been done, according to Maureen Martin, director of immigration services in the Harvard International Office.
“Students and faculty alike have expressed profound fear, concern, and confusion,” Martin wrote in a statement to the court. “Many international students and scholars are reporting significant emotional distress that is affecting their mental health and making it difficult to focus on their studies. Some are afraid to attend their own graduation ceremonies this week out of fear that some immigration related action will be taken against them.”
Harvard lawyers filed the Martin declaration before a hearing Thursday in Boston federal court, where Burroughs will consider Harvard’s request to extend her earlier order blocking the administration’s move. The government wants to withhold Harvard’s certification to enroll about 6,800 international students. About 27% of the student body comes from other countries.
In temporarily blocking the ban, Burroughs said it would cause “immediate and irreparable injury” if it went into effect. Harvard’s president, Alan Garber, has said the prohibition “imperils the futures of thousands of students and scholars.”
Harvard is the top target in Trump’s campaign to force universities to crack down on antisemitism, remove perceived left-wing bias and eradicate diversity, equity and inclusion program. The US has already frozen more than $2.6 billion in federal research funding at Harvard.
The school is suing separately over the funding freeze. In both lawsuits, Harvard claims the US is violating its First Amendment right to free speech, and the government failed to follow federal regulations.
Trump cranked up the pressure on Wednesday, saying Harvard should cap foreign student enrollment at 15%.
“I think they should have a cap of maybe around 15%, not 31%,” Trump said at the White House. “We have people who want to go to Harvard and other schools, they can’t get in because we have foreign students there.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said last week that Harvard’s responses to the government’s requests to provide information about misconduct by foreign students were insufficient. In suspending the university’s certification, the government said it would require existing international students to transfer or lose their legal status under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program.
To regain its program certification, Harvard was given 72 hours to provide several categories of information about foreign students dating back five years, including disciplinary records and video of those involved in protests.
Foreign students collectively pay millions of dollars in tuition, although the school, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, offers need-based aid to undergraduate students based on financial circumstances. Harvard is the richest university in the US, with an endowment estimated at $53 billion.
In her declaration, Martin said that the revocation notice has resulted in “too many international students to count” asking about transferring to other schools. At least three enrolled domestic students “have expressed serious interest in transferring rather than attend an educational institution without international students,” Martin said.
On Wednesday, the state of Massachusetts filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Harvard, saying the consequences of the ban are “dire” and far-reaching.
International students admitted for the coming school year “face a calamitous choice of abandoning their education at one of the world’s most renowned schools” or leaving “their world-class education vulnerable to the whims of an Administration intent on targeting and punishing Harvard,” lawyers for Massachusetts wrote.
The revocation “threatens Harvard’s ability to recruit and retain international talent as prospective students express concerns about visa stability, weakening institutional diversity and global competitiveness,” they wrote.
The case is Harvard v. US Department of Homeland Security, 25-cv-11472, US District Court, District of Massachusetts .
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