Federal judge blocks Trump effort to keep Harvard from hosting foreign students

BOSTON AP A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration s efforts to keep Harvard University from hosting international students An order from U S District Judge Allison Burroughs preserves the ability of Harvard to host foreign students while the development is decided It marks another accomplishment for the Ivy League school as it challenges multiple authorities sanctions amid a battle with the White House Harvard sued the Department of Homeland Defense in May after the agency withdrew the school s certification to host foreign students and issue paperwork for their visas The action would have forced Harvard s roughly foreign students to transfer or exposure being in the U S illegally New foreign students would have been barred from coming to Harvard The university called it illegal retaliation for rejecting the White House s demands to overhaul Harvard policies around campus protests admissions hiring and other issues Burroughs temporarily halted the action hours after Harvard sued Less than two weeks later in early June Trump moved to block foreign students from entering the U S to attend Harvard citing a different legal justification Harvard challenged the move and Burroughs temporarily blocked that effort as well Trump has been warring with Harvard for months after it rejected a series of regime demands meant to address conservative complaints that the school has become too liberal and has tolerated anti-Jewish harassment Trump functionaries have cut more than billion in research grants ended federal contracts and threatened to revoke its tax-exempt status In April Homeland Shield Secretary Kristi Noem demanded that Harvard turn over a trove of records related to any dangerous or illegal activity by foreign students Harvard says it complied but Noem reported the response fell short and on May revoked Harvard s certification in the Apprentice and Exchange Visitor Campaign The sanction straightaway put Harvard at a disadvantage as it competed for the world s top students the school mentioned in its lawsuit and it harmed Harvard s reputation as a global research hub Without its international students Harvard is not Harvard the suit reported The action would have upended a few graduate schools that recruit heavily from abroad Specific schools overseas expeditiously offered invitations to Harvard s students including two universities in Hong Kong Harvard President Alan Garber previously mentioned the university has made changes to combat antisemitism But Harvard he mentioned will not stray from its core legally-protected principles even after receiving federal ultimatums