Federal judge extends ban on Trump's order targeting Harvard international students

A national justice successful Boston agreed Monday to widen a impermanent restraining bid blocking President Donald Trump's effort to artifact planetary students from entering the U.S. to survey astatine Harvard. 

The update is simply a near-term triumph for the nation's oldest assemblage successful its months-long combat with the Trump administration.

Lawyers for Harvard had urged U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs connected Monday to widen 2 restraining orders that blocked the Trump medication from revoking its credentials nether the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, oregon SEVP, and which temporarily blocked a proclamation Trump signed earlier this period that barred overseas nationals from traveling to the U.S. if they planned to survey oregon probe astatine Harvard. 

"The proclamation is simply a plain usurpation of the First Amendment," Ian Gershengorn, a lawyer for Harvard, told Judge Burroughs successful tribunal connected Monday successful seeking a preliminary injunction, a much lasting signifier of court-ordered relief. 

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Banners connected the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library astatine the Harvard University field successful Cambridge, Massachusetts connected Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Sophie Park/Bloomberg)

Burroughs extended the impermanent restraining bid done June 23, noting that she needed much clip to formally regularisation connected the petition for injunctive relief.

"We'll footwear retired an sentiment arsenic soon arsenic we can," she told the tribunal Monday afternoon, soon earlier proceedings wrapped for the day.

At contented is simply a propulsion to revoke Harvard's credentials nether its SEVP program, announced by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem successful May; and a abstracted proclamation signed by Trump successful June, seeking to artifact foreign nationals from entering the U.S. if they were readying to survey oregon behaviour probe astatine Harvard. 

Both actions were temporarily blocked by Burroughs. Now, lawyers for the schoolhouse are pushing for a much imperishable signifier of alleviation known arsenic a preliminary injunction.

In the interim, lawyers for Harvard said that the Trump administration's actions person injected "unnecessary uncertainty for Harvard and its students, who whitethorn yet again person their presumption arsenic lawfully contiguous nonimmigrants successful the United States abruptly and categorically rescinded."

Harvard argued that the Trump administration's actions would interruption the Administrative Procedure Act, the First Amendment, and the Fifth Amendment – injecting "continued chaos and lasting harm connected Harvard for nary compelling reason," they said successful a filing.

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White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller speaks to reporters extracurricular the West Wing of the White House successful Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Trump officials have accused Harvard University of "fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party connected its campus," according to a connection earlier this year, and for failing to relationship for "known amerciable activity" connected its campus. 

Lawyers for Harvard told Burroughs successful tribunal connected Monday that these actions person already injected uncertainty into the lives of their planetary students. 

They noted that immoderate overseas students were incorrectly denied visas aft indicating their plans to survey astatine Harvard, portion astatine slightest four different students were wrongfully detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials earlier this period upon arriving successful the U.S. astatine Boston's Logan International Airport. 

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Harvard President Alan Garber acknowledges an extended circular of applause during Harvard University's commencement ceremonies, Thursday, May 29, 2025, successful Cambridge, Mass.  (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Harvard is besides warring to clasp its SEVP accreditation. The programme is tally by the Department of Homeland Security and allows universities to sponsor planetary students for U.S. visas for the duration of their enrollment astatine a nationalist university.

If it loses that status, experts antecedently told Fox News, thousands of planetary students presently enrolled astatine Harvard volition person a constrictive model to either transportation to different U.S. university, oregon hazard losing their pupil visas wrong 180 days.

Lawyers for Harvard antecedently told Burroughs that ending their SEVP certification would impact astir 7,000 planetary students astatine Harvard – oregon immoderate 27% of its full pupil body. 

Monday's proceeding was the latest successful a drawstring of ineligible dust-ups that person pitted Harvard against the Trump medication – oregon vice versa – successful Trump's 2nd White House term.

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Cambridge, MA - May 23: Hundreds of graduates walked retired of the 2024 Commencement successful Harvard Yard to telephone attraction to the plight of Palestinians.  (Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Since Trump took bureau successful January, the medication has already frozen much than $2 cardinal successful grants and contracts awarded to the university, and is proposing to extremity its tax-exempt status, among different things. 

The medication is besides targeting Harvard with investigations led by six abstracted national agencies. 

Combined, these actions person created a wide grade of uncertainty astatine Harvard.

Legal experts noted the court is wading into mostly uncharted territory. 

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Asked however it mightiness play out, galore scholars pointed to a deficiency of precedent and offered nary wide answer.

 "As with galore things that Trump does, the reply is unclear, due to the fact that it hasn't been done before," Josh Blackman, a instrumentality prof astatine South Texas College of Law, said past month. "No president has tried to bash this before, truthful I don't deliberation there's a wide precedent connected the answer."