Judge to block Trump from cutting Harvard's international student programme

A federal judge said on Wednesday that she would issue an order that would continue to block President Donald Trump's administration from immediately revoking Harvard University's ability to enroll international students.

US District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston announced her intention to issue a broad preliminary injunction shortly after the administration revealed it plans to pursue a new, lengthier administrative process to block the students' enrollment.

The US Department of Homeland Security changed course ahead of a hearing before Burroughs, which came on the same day as Harvard's commencement ceremonies, over whether to extend a temporary order blocking the Trump administration from revoking the Ivy League school's right to host international students.

The department in a notice sent to Harvard near midnight on Wednesday said it would now give the school 30 days to submit evidence to contest its plans to revoke its certification under a federal programme allowing it to enroll non-US students.

Harvard will also have the ability to pursue an administrative appeal of any agency decision, US Department of Justice attorney Tiberius Davis said as he argued there was now no need for a court order blocking the administration's actions.

But Burroughs, an appointee of Democratic former President Barack Obama, said she believed a broad preliminary injunction protecting Harvard and students was necessary while that administrative process played out.

She expressed skepticism that Harvard's fate would be any different at the conclusion of the administrative process, saying, "Aren't we still going to end up back here at the same place?"

And she expressed concern about whether the administration had fully complied with her temporary restraining order, pointing to a declaration Harvard submitted on Wednesday detailing how visas for incoming students had been recently revoked.

Burroughs said it "seems to suggest things are happening in violation of the TRO order, correct?" Davis said he was not aware of any violation.

Ian Gershengorn, a lawyer for Harvard, told Burroughs that an injunction protecting Harvard during the administrative process was necessary, saying the school was worried about the administration's efforts to retaliate against it.

"The First Amendment harms we are suffering are real and continuing," he said.

Burroughs said her earlier temporary restraining order would remain in effect while lawyers for both sides negotiate over the terms of the injunction.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based university says DHS's action is part of an "unprecedented and retaliatory attack on academic freedom at Harvard," which is pursuing a separate lawsuit challenging the administration's decision to terminate nearly $3 billion in federal research funding.

Harvard argues the Trump administration is retaliating against it for refusing to accede to its demands to control the school's governance, curriculum and the ideology of its faculty and students.

Harvard filed the lawsuit a day after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on May 22 announced she was revoking its certification with the Student and Exchange Visitor Program.

Harvard said the decision was "devastating" for the school and its student body. The university, the nation's oldest and wealthiest, enrolled nearly 6,800 international students in its current school year, about 27 percent of its total enrollment.

During Thursday's commencement ceremony, the university's President Alan Garber acknowledged graduates "from down the street, across the country and around the world," drawing applause on that last line.

"Just as it should be,” he added.

Harvard had argued that the revocation not only violated its free speech and due process rights under the US Constitution but also failed to comply with DHS regulations. The regulations require it to receive 30 days to challenge the agency's allegations and an opportunity to pursue an administrative appeal.

In announcing the initial decision to revoke Harvard's certification, Noem, without providing evidence, accused the university of "fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party."

In a letter that day, she accused the school of refusing to comply with wide-ranging requests for information on its student visa holders, including about any activity they engaged in that was illegal or violent or that would subject them to discipline.

The department's move would prevent Harvard from enrolling new international students and require existing ones to transfer to other schools or lose their legal status. Trump on Wednesday said that Harvard should have a 15% cap on the number of non-US students it admits.