Judge bars Trump effort to block Harvard from enrolling foreign students

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on May 29, 2025

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A federal judge Thursday blocked President Donald Trump from taking action to prevent Harvard University from enrolling foreign students amid a still-mushrooming feud between the White House and the nation’s oldest and most prestigious academic institution.

District Court Judge Allison Burroughs told the government she would issue an order to indefinitely prevent the White House from stopping the Ivy League school from hosting thousands of international students while the legal fight plays out.

The ruling extended her order from last week that paused Trump’s effort to strip Harvard of its certification to host foreign students and threats to revoke the visas of its students. Burroughs asked both sides to propose language for an order on the issue.

The judge’s action came as the White House shows little sign of backing down in its scrap with Harvard, which it accuses of being a hotbed of woke liberalism and a haven for student protests against Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza that improperly target Jewish students.

Even as Burroughs issued her ruling, the Trump administration sent a letter to Harvard giving it 30 days to respond to the accusations, including claims that the university supposedly coordinated with China and failed to respond sufficiently to antisemitism on campus.

The legal sparring came as thousands of Harvard students, faculty and administrators gathered on the leafy campus in the Boston suburb of Cambridge, Massachusetts, for the university’s annual graduation ceremony.

Harvard President Alan Garber basked in a standing ovation that lasted for more than a minute when he mentioned the university’s global reach, noting that it is “just as it should be.”

Aidan Robert Scully addressed fellow graduating seniors in Latin, and made no effort to hide his antipathy to Trump’s right-wing agenda.

“Neither powers nor princes can change the truth and deny that diversity is our strength,” Scully said.

The Trump administration has already ordered federal agencies to cancel roughly $100 million in contracts with Harvard, canceled more than $2.6 billion in federal research grants and threatened the school’s tax-exempt status.

The administration is demanding that Harvard make broad leadership changes, revise its admissions policies and audit its faculty and student body.

The school counters that the government has no right to impinge on its academic freedom and independence, especially its emphasis on diversity and tolerance. Other top universities, including New York’s Columbia, are facing similar attacks and cuts from Trump, which they fear could escalate.

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