US Judge Extends Order Blocking Trump's Ban On Foreign Students' Enrollment At Harvard
At a hearing Thursday in Boston, US District Judge Allison Burroughs said she would extend a temporary pause she put in place last week.
Harvard University won a longer-term reprieve from a Trump administration ban on the school enrolling international students.
At a hearing Thursday in Boston, US District Judge Allison Burroughs said she would extend a temporary pause she put in place last week. Harvard sued the administration last Friday, after the government said it was moving to halt the university’s ability to enroll foreign students.
The judge said she would issue the order based on feedback from lawyers for Harvard and the Trump administration.
“I want it to be worded in such a way so that nothing changes,” Burroughs said. “I want to make sure the status quo is clearly maintained.”
Harvard is the main target in the Trump administration’s efforts to force universities to crack down on antisemitism, remove perceived political bias and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The US has already frozen more than $2.6 billion in federal research funding at Harvard. The university is challenging the freeze in a separate lawsuit.
The government wants to withhold Harvard’s certification to enroll about 6,800 international students. About 27% of the student body comes from other countries.
At the hearing, the judge said that extending the order “would give some protection to the international students who are anxious about coming here.”
Harvard’s lawyers have argued that the Trump administration is retaliating against the school for exercising its free speech rights, and that the government failed to follow proper administrative procedures.
