The demonstration took place days after his administration revoked the university's certification allowing it to enrol international students.

The government last week told Harvard's thousands of current foreign students that they must transfer to other schools or they will lose their legal permission to be in the country.

"Trump has begun a dangerous march to roll back civil rights in this country. We've seen in his vicious racist attacks on speech and diversity, and his alliance with far right billionaires who amplify fascist rhetoric, " said student Clyve Lawrence.

Rae Trainer, another Harvard student said that Trump "wants to control what our students say, think, and believe".

The Trump administration’s efforts by to prevent Harvard University from enrolling international students have struck at the core of the school's identity.

With foreign scholars make up roughly 27 per cent of the institution’s total enrolment, it has also unsettled current and prospective students from around the world.

Despite a federal judges temporary block on the order revoking foreign student enrolment, their future at the school remains uncertain.

Ryan Enos, a professor of government and Director of the Centre for American Political Studies at Harvard, said freedom of speech and due process are the foundations of the American system.

“These are the foundations of a free society. But Donald Trump is attacking these freedoms because they get in the way of his authoritarian takeover. This is what authoritarians do," he said.

The Department of Homeland Security took this latest step because it said Harvard had failed to comply fully with requests to produce records about its foreign students.

It has accused the university of “perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies, and employs racist ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ policies.’

A Harvard student Jacob Miller, who is president of the Centre for Jewish Life Harvard Hillel, told the rally "that the Jewish community rejects this administration's narrative".

The US government has already terminated nearly $3 billion in federal research grants to the university.

On Tuesday, a senior administration official said it is asking federal agencies to cancel remaining contracts with Harvard University.

Over 400 students from across Africa are currently attending the university.