A Harvard graduate student has described a “devastating” atmosphere of uncertainty on campus as the Trump administration appears to intensify its efforts to restrict international students at the prestigious university.
“It’s definitely been a roller-coaster ride,” said Fangzhou Jiang, who has one semester remaining in his master’s program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. “Over the last week, everybody was really panicking about whether they should stay in the United States or depart immediately.”
A federal judge in Boston announced Thursday she would issue a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration’s attempts to prevent Harvard from enrolling international students.
The ruling marks a temporary victory for the university in its ongoing confrontation with the White House, which has launched multiple actions against the institution.
The acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a letter Thursday giving the school 30 days to challenge the administration’s revocation of the certification to enroll international students.
DHS officials have said that the revocation was necessary because Harvard failed to turn over information about international students — including disciplinary records — as requested by the Trump administration.
The school said in a lawsuit against the Trump administration that the actions from DHS were “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.”
The Trump administration has already frozen more than $3 billion in federal funding to Harvard and plans to cancel remaining federal contracts worth an estimated $100 million. President Donald Trump has also expressed interest in revoking the university’s tax-exempt status.
Tensions escalated further Wednesday when Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced officials would begin to “aggressively revoke” the visas of some Chinese students, sparking fresh concerns among the international student community.
“Everybody is wondering about the plan for next year—whether we should take a leave of absence, whether we should go back home and finish our semester online, or wait for more guidance,” Jiang said, who serves as vice president of student government on family affairs.
For Harvard, where international students comprise more than a quarter of the student body, according to the university, the impact could be significant. Jiang emphasized that international students play crucial roles on campus, from conducting academic research to facilitating cultural exchanges.
“Removing international students from Harvard will really not make Harvard the Harvard it has been for the last 400 years,” Jiang said. “It’s going to impact the amount of perspectives Harvard has. It will definitely weaken Harvard’s international influence and reputation. It is definitely not in the best interest of American higher education or the United States as a nation.”
Jiang said that while the university has committed to protecting international students through legal actions and other means, specific guidance for the upcoming academic year is unclear. Based on experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, Jiang remains optimistic that online learning options could provide a solution if necessary.
“The school has committed to protecting international students in whatever capacity,” Jiang said. “I remain confident that the university will be able to provide measures to help us finish our education at Harvard.”
Harvard University said in a statement to ABC News, “Today’s court decision allows the University to continue enrolling international students and scholars while the case moves forward. Harvard will continue to take steps to protect the rights of our international students and scholars, members of our community who are vital to the University’s academic mission and community—and whose presence here benefits our country immeasurably.”
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