A federal judge indefinitely blocked the Trump administration from barring Harvard’s ability to host foreign students on Friday.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs issued a federal injunction to follow up on the temporary block she issued last month.
The Trump administration first announced it was barring Harvard’s ability to enroll international students on May 22, revoking the school’s certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, with Burroughs quickly imposing a temporary restraining order on government action before issuing the temporary block a week later and now, the injunction blocking action indefinitely.
The battle between the Trump administration and Harvard has been ongoing in recent weeks, including Trump making a proclamation that he would deny visas to foreign students who were looking to come to the U.S. with the purpose of attending the Ivy League school.
Harvard then called on Burroughs to step in and temporarily halt the enforcement of the proclamation, which she granted. She has reportedly not yet made a ruling on the proclamation after hearing arguments on Monday.
Harvard is suing the Department of Homeland Security following Secretary Kristi Noem‘s order to terminate Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification effective for the 2025-2026 school year, which would mean the school would no longer be able to host foreign students on its campus.
The administration’s decision to revoke Harvard’s certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program came after Harvard faced allegations that it hadn’t adequately addressed antisemitism on campus. Government officials also demanded that the school eliminate what it calls “racist ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ practices,” according to CNN.
The ruling by Burroughs on Friday does not impact the government from proceeding with the legal process, but prohibits officials from “implementing, instituting, maintaining, or giving any force or effect” to the May 22 revocation put forward by Trump.
If the Trump administration were to successfully bar foreign students from attending Harvard, it would potentially impact seven returning members of the Harvard swim & dive teams.
Underclassmen with international hometowns on Harvard’s 2024-2025 Swimming & Diving rosters
| Swimmer | Squad | Class (24-25) |
Listed Hometown
|
| Kristin Helga Hakonardottir | Women’s Swimming | Sophomore |
Kopavogur, Iceland
|
| Blythe Wieclawek | Women’s Swimming | Sophomore |
Oro-Medonte, Canada
|
| Nina Janmyr | Women’s Diving | Junior | Hjarup, Sweden |
| Giulia Viacava | Women’s Swimming | Freshman | Monaco |
| Felipe Baffico | Men’s Swimming | Sophomore | Santiago, Chile |
| Mert Iravul | Men’s Swimming | Freshman | Ankara, Turkey |
| Filip Lanyi | Men’s Swimming | Sophomore |
Piestany, Slovakia
|
The men’s team also has at least four international swimmers slated to join them next season: Ognjen Pilipovic of Serbia, Maro Miknic and Vito Rados of Croatia, and Mark Iltsisin of Estonia.
And YET AN HOA Non Appointed “Representative” can Bar the number of Miller Lites I drink in my Yard and the speed of My boat. Make it make sense.
Randy
Maybe it’s the type of beer?
HOA rules can be annoying, but a speed limit on your boat is not there to punish you. It’s a generally applicable rule for all people in your community that have boats (and presumably intended for safety). Here, the President is using the power of the federal government to punish Harvard for not agreeing to the administration’s political demands to change their curriculum and hiring policies. It’s not that hard to understand the distinction or to understand why a university that believes in academic freedom would not agree to those demands. Also, your HOA reps are elected – you should run to be on your board if you don’t like the HOA rules!
How is Randy supposed to run for the board if he’s busy running sick waves on his Sea-Doo at criminal speeds and pounding Miller Lites on his double decker porch with his wife, Moreen? A man only has so much time in a day.
I have faith in our courts to resolve this in Harvard’s favor in the end. What an incredibly inappropriate overreach and misuse of executive power.
unfortunately, he pretty much thinks he can do whatever he wants.
Thank you to John Marshall for Marbury v Madison.
What?