Harvard University is difficult the Trump management’s resolution to bar it from enrolling international scholars.
In a lawsuit filed in Boston on Friday, the Ivy League college mentioned the federal government’s motion violates the First Amendment and may have an “rapid and devastating impact for Harvard and greater than 7,000 visa holders”.
The renowned institution said it had been targeted for defying the White House’s political demands.
Since the start of US President Donald Trump’s second term, the US government has sought to fundamentally change the country’s universities.
“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the university and its mission,” Harvard said. “Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.”
The university also filed a temporary restraining order to block the Department of Homeland Security from carrying out the move.
If the Trump administration’s decision stands, the university would be unable to offer admission to new international students for at least the next two academic years.
Graduate schools like the Harvard Kennedy School, where almost half the student body comes from abroad, would be the worst affected.
Harvard said the White House’s move on Thursday puts the school at an immediate disadvantage as it competes for the world’s top students. Even if it regains the ability to host students, “future applicants may shy away from applying out of fear of further reprisals from the government”, the lawsuit mentioned.
The Department of Homeland Security claimed on Thursday that it had acted towards Harvard for the reason that college had created an unsafe atmosphere for Jewish scholars through permitting “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” on campus.
On 16 April, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanded that Harvard supply details about international scholars that would possibly implicate them in violence or protests that would result in their deportation.
Noem mentioned Harvard may just regain its skill to host international scholars if it produces information on international scholars inside of 72 hours.
