Harvard University’s legal team on Monday urged a federal judge to extend an existing injunction that blocks President Donald Trump’s plan to bar foreign nationals from entering the US to study at the institution.

During a hearing in Boston, Harvard attorney Ian Gershengorn requested that District Judge Allison Burroughs grant a preliminary injunction to replace the temporary restraining order she issued on June 6, which halted the enforcement of Trump’s June 5 proclamation.

Gershengorn argued that the administration’s proclamation, which cited national security concerns, was in fact a retaliatory act aimed at Harvard for refusing to comply with demands to alter its internal governance, curriculum, and ideological direction. “The proclamation is a plain violation of the First Amendment,” he told the court.

International students comprise a significant portion of Harvard’s student body — nearly 6,800 in the most recent academic year, or about 27% of total enrollment — with many coming from China and India.

The Trump administration has intensified its pressure on Harvard through a series of actions, including freezing billions in federal grants and threatening to revoke the university’s tax-exempt status. These moves have sparked multiple lawsuits filed by Harvard, including efforts to unfreeze $2.5 billion in funding and prevent restrictions on foreign student enrolment.

On May 22, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification would be immediately revoked — the federal authorisation that allows it to enrol international students. That decision was promptly blocked by Judge Burroughs.

Though the Department of Homeland Security has since shifted to pursuing a slower administrative review of Harvard’s certification, Burroughs indicated at a May 29 hearing that she intended to issue a broad injunction to preserve the status quo.

Despite that, Trump signed his proclamation a week later, claiming that Harvard is “no longer a trustworthy steward of international student and exchange visitor programs,” and invoking national security to justify the move.

Faridah Abdulkadiri

Follow us on: