Washington / Boston - It is a legal slap in the face for Donald Trump and a sigh of relief for thousands of young people around the world: A federal judge in Boston on Monday once again blocked a measure by the Trump administration aimed at keeping foreign students from attending Harvard University. In her decision, Judge Allison Burroughs called it a “misguided attempt to control a reputable academic institution” that threatens freedom of speech and freedom of thought. For now, Harvard remains authorized to admit international students and issue the necessary visa documents - at least as long as the case remains in court. The decision marks the latest peak in a months-long power struggle between the White House and one of the world’s most prestigious universities.
Since spring, the Trump administration has been trying to pressure Harvard into submission using political and financial levers: more than 2.6 billion dollars in research funding have been cut, federal contracts canceled, and the university’s nonprofit status called into question. The accusation: Harvard is too liberal, too lenient with campus protests, and too resistant to the administration’s demands - especially in matters of admissions, personnel policy, and its handling of pro-Palestinian expressions. In May, Harvard filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security after the agency revoked the university’s certification for the so-called Student and Exchange Visitor Program. Without that certification, Harvard would no longer have been able to issue visas - forcing roughly 7,000 foreign students either to transfer or face becoming undocumented in the United States. On June 4, Trump attempted to enforce the blockade through a new legal basis - a presidential proclamation that would have broadly denied entry to Harvard’s international students. But this effort was also stopped by Judge Burroughs. In her reasoning, she explicitly pointed to the threat to fundamental rights: “The government’s attempt to silence an independent university simply because it expresses opinions that differ from the administration’s threatens freedom of thought,” Burroughs wrote.
The background: Harvard had refused to comply with a series of government demands, including an overhaul of protest regulations, a revision of its admissions policy, and a sweeping investigation of all international students. After Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revoked the certification in mid-May, the situation escalated. Harvard did submit a number of documents, but Noem declared them “insufficient.” Trump’s most recent social media post on Friday painted a different picture: the administration was “in good talks” with Harvard and might announce an agreement soon. But the university itself struck a different tone: President Alan Garber emphasized that while steps had been taken to combat antisemitism, Harvard would not be swayed from its “core, legally protected values.” In court, Harvard made clear what is at stake: “Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.” About a quarter of all students come from abroad. The attack on them is an attack on the very essence of the university itself - and on an America that once took pride in keeping its doors open to the brightest minds in the world. The legal battle is not over - but at least for now, it is clear: a government that tries to control dissenting institutions through visa revocations, funding cuts, and threats faces courts that are willing to push back. For now.
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