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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Judge halts Trump’s proclamation to suspend new international student
visas at Harvard hours after university filed amended lawsuit
By Andy Rose, Emma Tucker, Devan Cole, CNN
Updated:
3:50 PM EDT, Fri June 6, 2025
Source: CNN
A federal judge has halted President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to
block international students from coming to Harvard University.
The temporary restraining order issued late Thursday by US District
Judge Allison Burroughs came hours after the university urged the judge
to step in on an emergency basis to block a proclamation Trump signed a
day earlier that suspends international visas for new students. Foreign
students make up roughly a quarter of the student body.
The brief order from Burroughs said if she didn’t intervene now, the
school would “sustain immediate and irreparable injury before there
is an opportunity to hear from all parties” over the challenge to
Trump’s edict. The judge said her order “shall remain in effect
until further order of this Court.”
Burroughs, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, set a hearing
for mid-June to hear arguments over whether she should block Trump’s
proclamation indefinitely.
Despite the judge’s order, the State Department has ordered all US
Embassies and Consulates around the world to deny visas to Harvard
international students, according to a diplomatic cable signed by
Secretary of State Marco Rubio obtained by CNN.
In a statement to CNN, a State Department spokesperson said the agency
“does not comment on internal communications.”
Harvard’s request to block Trump’s ban amended an existing lawsuit
over the administration’s move to end Harvard’s ability to enroll
international students, which initially prompted the judge to stop the
administration from revoking Harvard’s student visa program.
The amended lawsuit claimed Trump’s proclamation violated the First
Amendment by temporarily blocking the entry of nearly all new
international Harvard students under visas most use to study at US
universities or participate in academic exchange programs.
Trump’s proclamation directed the secretary of state “to consider
revoking” the visas – known as F, M and J visas – for current
Harvard students who meet the proclamation’s “criteria,” the
White House said in a statement.
“With the stroke of a pen, the DHS Secretary and the President have
sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international
students who contribute significantly to the University and its mission
and the country,” the amended complaint reads.
“Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard,” it
says.
The visa program, which allows international students “to enter the
United States on nonimmigrant visas to enroll at Harvard and thousands
of other schools, have boosted America’s academic, scientific, and
economic success and its global standing,” the lawsuit says.
In its amended lawsuit, Harvard rebutted that the proclamation is an
attempt to “safeguard national security” and said it represents
“a government vendetta against Harvard.”
“It escalates and intensifies the campaign of retaliation in
violation of the First Amendment,” the amended suit reads. “…
Just as the revocation unconstitutionally intrudes on academic freedom,
the Proclamation unconstitutionally intrudes too.”
Trump’s proclamation hinges on a statute that gives the president
authority to protect the nation from “any class of aliens whose entry
would be detrimental” to the interests of the US, according to the
document. But Harvard argues Trump is not suspending entry for any such
class: “To the contrary, nonimmigrants may enter the country
unabated, as long as they do not attend Harvard,” the lawsuit reads.
Trump’s proclamation accused the Ivy League institution of failing to
address antisemitism on campus as well as persistently
“prioritizing” diversity, equity, and inclusion – designed to in
public spaces – that Trump as “illegal and immoral
discrimination.”
In a statement to the university community on Thursday, Harvard
President Alan Garber said the proclamation is “yet another illegal
step taken by the Administration to retaliate against Harvard.”
Harvard’s international community, Garber said, “make outstanding
contributions inside and outside of our classrooms and laboratories,
fulfilling our mission of excellence in countless ways.” The
institution will “celebrate them, support them, and defend their
interests as we continue to assert our Constitutional rights,” he
added.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
What did the original complaint include?
Harvard’s initial complaint pushing back against the Trump
administration’s efforts to restrict foreign students, filed May 23,
argued the revocation of its certification in the Student and Exchange
Visitor Program by the Department of Homeland Security was “clear
retaliation” for its refusal of the government’s ideologically
rooted policy demands.
Hours after the initial complaint was filed, Judge Burroughs to drop
Harvard from SEVP, which would have made it impossible for the
university to host any international students. Last week, the judge
ordered the Trump administration not to make any changes to Harvard’s
international student visa program indefinitely.
The amended complaint says the proclamation “is a patent effort to do
an end-run around” the judge’s order. “What the DHS Secretary has
purported to take away on the back end by revoking Harvard’s
certifications to host foreign students, the President purports to take
away on the front end by preventing the students and scholars invited
to Harvard from gaining entry into the country in the first place,”
the complaint reads.
Garber, in his statement, said Trump’s proclamation “circumvents”
the judge’s temporary restraining order, adding he hopes the court
“will act swiftly” in halting its enforcement. The Harvard
International Office will be in direct contact with students and
scholars who may be affected by Trump’s issued the same day, Garber
wrote.
While Harvard has argued in legal filings that White House orders were
behind the DHS move to revoke its ability to host international
students, Wednesday’s proclamation marked the first time Trump became
directly involved in the dispute at the center of his broader battle
against elite US academics.
Harvard is battling the White House on two fronts – both of which are
being overseen by Burroughs. The university filed its first lawsuit
against the Trump administration for more than and threatening billions
more, as well as . That money remains frozen as the case is pending in
court, scheduled for arguments next month.
Consulates told to deny Harvard-related student visas
On the same day Burroughs said in her order that she wanted to
“preserve the status quo” of Harvard’s international program as
the case plays out, the State Department sent new instructions to
diplomatic outposts around the world.
“Effective immediately, adjudicating officers must refuse under INA
212(f) any qualified and otherwise eligible F, M, or J nonimmigrant
visa applicants traveling to begin study or begin participation in an
exchange visitor program at Harvard University,” reads a cable signed
by Rubio and sent to US Embassies and Consulates. Although the cable
was dated Friday morning, a source tells CNN officials received it
Thursday night, shortly before Burroughs’ order.
The cable said that further details on exceptions to the rule in cases
of “national interest” would be sent later. As of Friday afternoon,
there had been no further guidance retracting the instructions in light
of the judge’s order.
CNN reached out to Harvard on Friday for comment on the new cable.
The judge had raised concern at a court hearing last week about reports
that people seeking visas to study at the university in recent weeks
had some trouble getting papers at US embassies but has not asked
further questions about it.
In its updated lawsuit, Harvard complained Thursday that another cable
which was issued last week as Burroughs temporarily on Harvard’s
ability to enroll international students had required increased
scrutiny for prospective Harvard international students.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio had justified last week’s cable by
pointing to the DHS determination that Harvard failed to “maintain a
campus environment free from violence” and antisemitism, the
complaint says, citing the language in the cable.
The cable directed consular and diplomatic officers to conduct a
“complete screening of the online presence” of any nonimmigrant
visa applicant for Harvard, the complaint says, including
“prospective students, students, faculty, employees, contractors,
guest speakersk (sic), and tourists.”
Even if the applicant is “otherwise eligible” for the visa status,
the cable informed recipients they must “refuse the case,” inform
the applicant that their online presence is subject to review and they
should make their social media accounts public, the complaint says.
But applicants who don’t have any social media platforms or those who
set their accounts to private could be “reflective of evasiveness and
call into question the applicant’s credibility” and be refused,
according to the complaint.
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