The Trump administration revoked Harvard’s ability to enroll international students as President Donald Trump continues his vendetta against the university.
“I am writing to inform you that effective immediately, Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification is revoked,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem wrote in a letter addressed to Harvard President Alan Garber on Thursday.
The move cuts off a vital funding stream for the university. International students—who make up over a quarter of the school’s student body—typically shoulder higher tuition costs than their American counterparts. The Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in federal funding to the university in April.
The Department of Homeland Security made clear that the order also affects around 6,800 international students who are currently enrolled—many of whom were set to graduate next week.
“This means Harvard can no longer enroll foreign students, and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status,” a press release read.
Harvard is likely to mount a legal challenge over the move, The New York Times reported. The latest blow to the Ivy League university has deepened the feud that erupted on April 14, when Harvard rejected the administration’s demands for a complete overhaul of its governance, hiring practices, admissions, teaching, and research programs.
“The government’s action is unlawful,” the university told NBC News in a statement. “We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard’s ability to host our international students and scholars, who hail from more than 140 countries and enrich the University—and this nation—immeasurably.”
In a five-page letter, the Trump administration ordered Harvard to bring in a government-approved “external party” to “audit” students and faculty for viewpoint diversity. Departments that failed to meet the administration’s standards would be forced to either hire new staff or shut down entirely. The administration said the changes were needed to combat antisemitism on campus.
But Garber said on April 14 that the demands are “an attempt to control the Harvard community” and vowed that “the University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.”
The revocation of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification comes after Noem in April ordered Harvard to share “information about the criminality and misconduct of foreign students.”
Although Harvard submitted information on international students, Thursday’s press release said the university had “brazenly refused to provide the required information” and “ignored a follow up request.”
In his campaign to force Harvard to bend the knee, Trump has also called for the university’s tax-exempt status to be stripped.
In Noem’s letter to Garber, she wrote, “Consequences must follow to send a clear signal to Harvard and all universities that want to enjoy the privilege of enrolling foreign students, that the Trump administration will enforce the law and root out the evils of anti-Americanism and antisemitism in society and campuses.”
The post Trump Deals Harvard Another Huge Blow in Escalating Feud appeared first on The Daily Beast.
