In an intensified dispute between President Donald Trump and the esteemed university, Harvard University filed a lawsuit against the US government on Friday, challenging its decision to remove its ability to admit overseas students.
The “unlawful and unwarranted action” was denounced by Harvard President Dr. Alan M. Garber in a statement. The Ivy League university has also filed a judicial petition for a restriction order on the revocation. “We condemn this unlawful and unwarranted action. It imperils the futures of thousands of students and scholars across Harvard and serves as a warning to countless others at colleges and universities throughout the country who have come to America to pursue their education and fulfill their dreams,” Mr Garber said. “We have just filed a complaint, and a motion for a temporary restraining order will follow. As we pursue legal remedies, we will do everything in our power to support our students and scholars. The Harvard International Office will provide periodic updates as new information becomes available,” he added.
The action was taken just hours after the Donald Trump administration banned Harvard from accepting international students under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), a federal government program. According to the university, almost 6,000 overseas students attended Harvard during the 2024–2025 academic year, making up 27.3% of the student body.
Mr. Trump had threatened to take this action last month if the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based university did not comply with government demands that would subject the private school to external political oversight. The government stated that if the university meets a number of requirements set forth by Mr. Trump within 72 hours, the ban on international students may be lifted. “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,” Mr Garber said in his statement.
Harvard and other universities have been at odds with the Trump administration for weeks over allegations that they allow anti-Semitism on campus, endangering their funding, tax-exempt status, and ability to accept international students. This is not the first time Harvard has challenged the government in court. The administration’s decision to block $2.3 billion in funding was contested in April. Mr Garber said the university “will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights”.
Harvard University claimed in its lawsuit, which was filed Friday in the US District Court for the Massachusetts district, that it has been certified to enrol international students under the F-1 visa program for more than 70 years. The F-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa that permits international students to enter the US for the purpose of pursuing academic studies. “Yesterday, the government abruptly revoked that certification without process or cause, to immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders. This revocation is a blatant violation of the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause, and the Administrative Procedure Act,” it said. The American university said the revocation was “the latest act by the government in clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government’s demands to control Harvard’s governance, curriculum, and the ‘ideology’ of its faculty and students.”
“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the University and its mission,” the varsity said. The US government’s decision is a retaliatory one that poses “serious harm” to Harvard, the university stated earlier in the day.
