Trump's proclamation barring new Harvard international students blocked by judge
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People walk past the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library on Harvard's campus on June 5. Photo: Heather Diehl/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
A federal judge on Monday again shot down the Trump administration's efforts to bar Harvard from hosting international students by blocking the president's proclamation that would suspend entry of foreign students to the university.
The big picture: President Trump's squeeze on Harvard has met friction in the courts. Just last week, the same Obama-appointed judge indefinitely halted another attempt by the administration to block international students from attending the Ivy League institution.
Driving the news: Judge Allison D. Burroughs, in her order Monday blocking Trump's proclamation, emphasized the key constitutional principles at the center of the case.
- "[A]t its root, this case is about core constitutional rights that must be safeguarded: freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and freedom of speech, each of which is a pillar of a functioning democracy and an essential hedge against authoritarianism," she said.
- Burroughs continued, "Here, the government's misplaced efforts to control a reputable academic institution and squelch diverse viewpoints seemingly because they are, in some instances, opposed to this Administration's own views, threaten these rights."
- She further rebuked the administration's push to do so "at least in part, on the backs of international students."
Zoom out: Trump, in his June 4 proclamation, claimed Harvard had obstructed the Department of Homeland Security's attempts to obtain information about foreign students' "known illegal activity" and "known threats to other students or university personnel," among other data.
- The suspension was expected to last at least 90 days, per Trump's order.
- The proclamation, which rested on authority granted by the Immigration and Nationality Act, followed DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's May order to terminate Harvard's student and exchange visitor program certification.
- That action pulled thousands of international students into the crosshairs of Trump's battle with the university and would have forced them to transfer or lose legal status.
Friction point: Harvard has argued the international student ban is one part of a larger retaliation campaign against the university for not complying with the Trump administration's demands, which include hiring, admissions and governance reform.
- Burroughs noted in her order that the administration has argued the June proclamation has nothing to do with an April letter containing its demands to Harvard and that the weeks between them undermine any link.
- "Defendants' reading of the record is so selective as to border on absurd," she said. "Between the April 11 Letter and the Proclamation, there were very few days where the Administration did not attack Harvard in some form or another."
- The White House did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
Catch up quick: The administration has battered Harvard from various fronts, freezing more than 2.6 billion in funding and threatening to revoke its tax-exempt status.
Go deeper: Foreign students consider fleeing Harvard after Trump threats, university says
