Judge Extends Block to Trump’s Administration Intent to Bar Foreign Student at Harvard

Articles | May 29, 2025 | by Catholics for Catholics

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The famous university contends that the administration is retaliating for protected speech and has failed to follow proper procedures.

By Catholics for Catholics

A federal, Obama appointed judge said she would keep a temporary block she had put on the Department of Homeland Security’s revocation of Harvard’s certification of foreign students. The program called the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, permits the university to enroll foreign students.

According to The Epoch Times, attorneys from the Department of Justice and Harvard were to have a hearing on a longer-term block. Nevertheless, before the hearing happened, the Trump administration “changed its position and told the judge that instead of immediately decertifying Harvard, it would consider the issue through a lengthier administrative process.”

The famous university sued the administration on the grounds that the Trump administration’s effort to take away its certification was a reprisal for protected speech. In addition, Harvard also contends that the revocation was illegal since it did not follow a proper administrative procedure.

A Department of Justice lawyer countered on May 29 that at this point of the process a court order was not necessary, according to The Times.  “But District Judge Allison Burroughs of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts said she thought that the university was encountering some kind of harm under the First Amendment and that she wanted to issue a more permanent block, known as a preliminary injunction,” according to The Times.

On its behalf, the university has outlined the fracas as an existential threat. As Harvard contended for a restraining order, it said that “without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.”

Under the revocation, thousands of international students would not have been able to enter the country for the upcoming summer and fall terms, the university said, according to The Times. In total, the university hosts 5,000 students from 143 countries as part of J-1 and F-1 visas. It said 2,000 international students were part of optional practice training programs.