Cambridge, MA – May 28: Soon to be graduates take photos after Harvard University’s Class Day ceremony on May 28, 2025.
Brett Phelps | Boston Globe | Getty Images
Harvard University on Thursday filed a legal challenge to President Donald Trump’s efforts to block visas for foreign students planning to attend the Ivy League college.
“Singling out our institution for its enrollment of international students and its collaboration with other educational institutions around the world is yet another illegal step taken by the Administration to retaliate against Harvard,” Harvard President Alan M. Garber said in a letter to the campus community.
Trump on Wednesday issued a proclamation to deny visas to foreign students who planned to enter the U.S. to study at Harvard, his latest attack on the prominent university.
The move followed an attempt late last month to limit Harvard’s ability to enroll foreign students by revoking its certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which was temporarily blocked by a federal judge.
Harvard on Thursday amended a federal complaint and will seek to have a court “immediately halt the enforcement of the proclamation,” Garber wrote in the letter.
“We hope the court will act swiftly,” he wrote.
The Trump proclamation would not affect only incoming students. It states that the State Department would review existing foreign students at Harvard under F, M or J visas to determine whether their visas should be revoked.
Trump and his administration have targeted Harvard and claimed that it has not done enough to combat antisemitism on campus during demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war.
Harvard in April rejected Trump administration demands that included auditing viewpoints of the student body. In response, the federal government said it was freezing more than $2 billion in federal grants.
Harvard says it is being retaliated against by the Trump administration for refusing illegal attempts to control it and its students.
Garber wrote in Thursday’s letter that it will defend its international students.
“International students and scholars make outstanding contributions inside and outside of our classrooms and laboratories, fulfilling our mission of excellence in countless ways,” Garber wrote. “We will celebrate them, support them, and defend their interests as we continue to assert our Constitutional rights.