A federal judge in Boston has extended a temporary restraining order blocking President Donald Trump’s attempt to restrict international students from entering the U.S. to study at Harvard. The order, issued by U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs, temporarily halts a proclamation by Trump that barred foreign nationals from traveling to the U.S. if they intended to study at Harvard. Harvard’s lawyers argue that Trump’s actions violate constitutional rights and pose significant risks to the university’s international student population.
The ruling was a welcome development for Harvard, which has been engaged in a prolonged legal battle with the Trump administration. The university’s legal team had urged the court to extend the restraining orders that blocked Trump’s efforts to revoke Harvard’s credentials under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). The judge also extended the temporary restraining order to June 23, with a formal ruling on injunctive relief pending.
The case highlights the deepening tensions between Harvard and the Trump administration, with the university accusing the government of injecting unnecessary uncertainty and potentially undermining its status as a leading academic institution. The administration, in turn, has accused Harvard of fostering violence and antisemitism on campus and failing to address ‘known illegal activity.’ Harvard’s lawyers have emphasized that the Trump administration’s actions could lead to the wrongful detentions or visa denials of international students, with the university’s legal team describing the situation as a threat to its global reputation and educational mission.
This legal dispute is part of a broader pattern of conflict between Harvard and the Trump administration. Since Trump took office in January, the administration has already frozen over $2 billion in grants and contracts awarded to the university, and is proposing to end its tax-exempt status, among other things. The administration is also targeting Harvard with investigations led by six separate federal agencies. These actions have created a wide degree of uncertainty at Harvard, with the university facing the possibility of losing its SEVP accreditation, which would affect approximately 7,000 international students.
Legal experts have noted that the court is wading into largely uncharted territory, with no clear precedent for how such a case might be resolved. Scholars have pointed to the lack of legal guidance, highlighting that no president has attempted to revoke a university’s SEVP certification in this manner before. As with many of Trump’s policies, the outcome remains uncertain, with experts unable to predict the long-term implications for Harvard and its international students.
The university’s fight for its SEVP accreditation is seen as a critical issue, as losing the status would force thousands of international students to either transfer to another institution in the U.S. or risk losing their student visas within 180 days. Harvard’s legal team has stressed that the Trump administration’s actions are not only a threat to the university’s operations but also to the broader academic and cultural ecosystem that international students contribute to. The case has drawn significant attention, with legal scholars and commentators analyzing the potential consequences for both Harvard and the administration’s broader policy agenda.
The ongoing legal battles between Harvard and the Trump administration have also been a focal point for public discourse, with critics arguing that the administration’s policies are undermining the rights of international students and threatening the university’s standing as a global institution. The case has been described as a major test of the judiciary’s ability to balance national security concerns with the constitutional rights of individuals, particularly in an academic context. The final outcome of this case will likely have long-term implications for how the federal government interacts with universities and the rights of foreign students in the United States.