The Trump Administration Says Harvard May No Longer Have the Right to Enroll International Students

Harvard University could lose its authority to accept overseas students, the Trump administration has warned.

This is the latest development in a growing standoff between the federal government and the Ivy League university, with the US Department of Homeland Security warning that Harvard University may lose its ability to enroll international students if it does not comply with demands from the Trump administration to provide information on certain visa holders.

On Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also said that the government had revoked two grants worth over $2.7 million to Harvard.

In a letter to Harvard, Noem requested documents pertaining to the “illegal and violent activities” of some international student visa holders at the university by April 30.

In a statement, Noem added, “Harvard will lose the privilege of enrolling foreign students if it cannot confirm that it is in full compliance with its reporting requirements.”

The university received Noem’s letter “about grant cancellations and scrutiny of foreign student visas,” according to a Harvard spokesperson, who also reaffirmed the university’s previous stance that it “will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights” and that it would continue to abide by the law.

In reaction to pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations against the US-backed Israeli military invasion of Gaza, which came after a murderous strike by Palestinian Hamas militants in October 2023, the Trump administration has increasingly threatened to withhold federal funding from institutions.

Accusing protesters of antisemitism and voicing sympathy for Hamas, President Donald Trump has described the university demonstrations as a national security issue. This framing has been challenged by protesters, including a number of Jewish organizations, who maintain that their activism is focused on Palestinian human rights and opposition to Israeli actions in Gaza rather than radicalism or antisemitism.

The administration has already canceled hundreds of visas across the country and is taking steps to deport some protesting international students.

Harvard can finance its own turmoil with a $53.2 billion endowment, but DHS won’t,” Noem added, charging the university with promoting a “pro-Hamas, anti-American worldview.”

Harvard has already declared that it supports academic freedom and the right to demonstrate while working to eradicate antisemitism and other forms of prejudice on campus.