A federal judge extended a temporary restraining order blocking U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempt to ban Harvard University from enrolling international students. The temporary restraining order was put in place Thursday local time, at the same time many students celebrated graduation less than 10 kilometres away.
Harvard has been a key target of the Trump administration's crackdown on elite American universities, according to AFP. Earlier this month, the administration threatened to freeze the university’s funding on the grounds of left-wing bias and an insufficient response to antisemitism on campus. Then last Thursday, in a display of escalating relations, the Trump administration attempted to halt Harvard’s ability to enroll foreign students, who make up around 27% of the student body, which was blocked by a temporary restraining order from a federal judge.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs extended the temporary restraining order put in place last week to provide protections to international students while the legality of the Trump administration’s actions is decided in court. At a hearing in Boston, Harvard lawyer Ian Gershengorn said that, even with the restraining order, students are deeply frightened, with some taking the initiative to transfer to alternative universities.
Just before the hearing on Friday, the administration issued a formal notice to the court that they would no longer attempt to immediately revoke Harvard’s ability to host international students, but instead grant them 30 days to submit evidence to challenge the cancellation orders. However, Judge Bouroughs said the letter itself was not enough to instill confidence that the administration wouldn’t try other methods against Harvard, which factored into her extending the previously issued restraining order indefinitely. She added she would seek to clarify whether the administration’s actions had thus far been motivated by retaliation.
This is just one of the Trump administration's hostile actions against higher education institutions in the United States. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday that the U.S. would aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, who currently make up the majority of international students in U.S. institutions.