Trump administration bans Harvard from teaching foreign students
22 May 22:56
The administration of US President Donald Trump has announced the revocation of Harvard University’s certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), saying that thousands of current students must transfer to other educational institutions or leave the country. This was reported by AP, "Komersant Ukrainian" informs
The US Department of Homeland Security, headed by Christie Noah, has accused Harvard of creating an unsafe environment, in particular because of cases of anti-Semitic violence and alleged collaboration with the Communist Party of China.
“This means that Harvard can no longer enroll international students, and existing international students must transfer their status or lose it,” the department said in a statement.
Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has nearly 6,800 international students, which is more than a quarter of its student body. Most of them are graduate students from more than 100 countries.
Harvard strongly condemned the decision, calling it illegal and undermining the university’s academic mission and the well-being of its community. The university also pointed out that this is part of a broader escalation of tensions between the Trump administration and higher education institutions over university autonomy and freedom of expression.
“These retaliatory measures threaten serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermine Harvard’s academic and research mission,” the university said in a statement.
The controversy arose from a request from Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem on April 16. The letter demanded that Harvard hand over information about foreign students who may be involved in violence or protests, which could otherwise lead to their deportation.
In a letter to Harvard on Thursday, Noem said that the sanction of the school is “the unfortunate result of Harvard’s failure to comply with simple reporting requirements.” It prohibits Harvard from accepting international students in the next 2025-26 academic year.
Noem said that Harvard could restore its ability to admit international students if it provides a huge number of records on international students within 72 hours. Her updated request calls for all records, including audio or video, of international students participating in protests or dangerous activities on campus.
In recent weeks, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has frozen or terminated federal grants and contracts for Harvard University worth nearly $3 billion.
In particular, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently announced that it was suspending $60 million in federal grants to Harvard University because the institution failed to combat anti-Semitism and ethnic discrimination.
