Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump on Wednesday said, “Harvard has got to behave themselves. Harvard is treating our country with great disrespect, and all they’re doing is getting in deeper and deeper.”
University’s director of immigration services on Wednesday said in a court filing that the Trump administration’s decision to block Harvard from enrolling international students has sown “profound fear, concern, and confusion.”Also Read: Trump says Harvard should have maybe a 15% cap on foreign students
Numerous foreign students have inquired about transferring, according to the filing by director Maureen Martin. As per a report in The New York Times, she mentioned that many others are terrified to attend their own graduations.
A few American students have also expressed concerns about attending a school without foreign students. According to the court filing, many students reported being hassled at airports because of their Harvard visas. It was part of a Harvard lawsuit filed in reaction to the Trump administration’s efforts to bar overseas students from the university.
“Many international students and scholars are reporting significant emotional distress that is affecting their mental health and making it difficult to focus on their studies,” Martin added.On Tuesday, Harvard President Alan Garber told National Public Radio, “They don’t like what’s happened to campuses, and sometimes they don’t like what we represent.
“What I can tell you is Harvard is a very old institution, much older than the country. And as long as there has been a United States of America, Harvard has thought that its role is to serve the nation.”
Also Read: From Harvard standoff to cancelling visas, Trump’s major announcements that affect students
On Wednesday, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a basketball player and human rights activist, addressed the class of 2025 on Class Day. “When a tyrannical administration tried to bully and threaten Harvard to give up their academic freedom and destroy free speech, Dr Alan Garber rejected the illegal and immoral pressures the way Rosa Parks declined,” he said.
Last week, a federal judge temporarily halted the government’s effort and the two parties will meet in court for the first time on Thursday. A federal judge in Boston will hear arguments on Thursday on Trump’s effort to ban Harvard from admitting foreign students.
Earlier, US District Judge Allison Burroughs temporarily blocked Homeland Security’s decision to revoke the university’s participation in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program.
The Department ordered the university to halt accepting international students, citing a violation of reporting rules. In a letter to Harvard on May 22, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote, “This action should not surprise you and is the unfortunate result of Harvard’s failure to comply with simple reporting requirements.”
Harvard soon filed a lawsuit, calling the move a “blatant violation” of the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause, and the Administrative Procedure Act. Burroughs agreed with the university, claiming that the university “made a sufficient showing … that, unless its motion for a temporary restraining order … is granted, it will sustain immediate and irreparable injury before there is an opportunity to hear from all parties”.
