Boston, May 23, 2025 – With a single stroke of the pen, U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs has stopped the latest attempt by the Trump administration to undermine academic freedom. In an emergency hearing at the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, she ruled that the Department of Homeland Security’s action was unlawful – an action that would have revoked Harvard University’s certification to participate in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), effectively forcing more than 7,000 international students to leave the country.
The courtroom was tense. While government representatives attempted to discredit Harvard with accusations of antisemitism and alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party, the university’s attorneys firmly rejected the claims. “This is a politically motivated act of reprisal,” said Harvard’s lead counsel Daniel P. Schmitt.
Judge Burroughs did not mince words: “The administration’s action lacks any legal merit and clearly aims to silence critical institutions.”
In the gallery, students sat with tears in their eyes – their legal status in the United States hanging on the outcome of this case. Outside the courthouse, demonstrators held signs reading “Hands off Harvard” and “Education is not a weapon.”
The case is docketed as 1:25-cv-11472 and is already being seen as a landmark for the protection of academic independence under authoritarian pressure.
Next hearing: May 29.
Until then, Harvard stays open. And the world is watching.
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