Trump Bans Harvard From Enrolling International Students In Latest Blow

The U.S. government has revoked Harvard University’s right to enroll international students, claiming the Ivy League institution has fostered antisemitism and anti-Americanism.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also accused Harvard of coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on campus.

The decision means Harvard will not be able to enroll foreign students for the 2025-26 academic school year, and current students on non-immigrant visas will need to transfer to another university.

Nearly 6,800 international students are enrolled at Harvard

Image credits: Harvard University

Nearly 6,800 international students are enrolled at Harvard.

The Massachusetts learning institution responded to the latest blow from the Trump administration, saying the action threatened serious harm.

“We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard’s ability to host our international students and scholars, who hail from more than 140 countries and enrich the University—and this nation—immeasurably,” Harvard said.

“We are working quickly to provide guidance and support to members of our community. This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard’s academic and research mission.”

In a letter revoking the university’s Exchange Visitor Program certification, Noem said Harvard had perpetuated an “unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies, and employs racist ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ policies.”

Image credits: Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images

The decision came after Harvard—America’s oldest university—refused to turn over records on non-immigrant students that could render them “inadmissible or removable.”

The right to enroll international students will be restored to the university if it complies with a list of demands from Homeland Security within 72 hours.

These relate to non-immigration students enrolled in Harvard and pertain to disciplinary records—including taking part in protests.

“Any and all audio or video footage, in the possession of Harvard University, of any protest activity involving a nonimmigrant student on a Harvard University campus in the last five years,” one of the demands reads.

In recent months, the U.S. State Department has amped up efforts to revoke visas for international students involved in campus protests, particularly pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

It is part of a broader government initiative called “catch and revoke,” which uses AI to identify foreign nationals expressing views the government deems pro-Hamas.

Other requests involve records regarding illegal activity, dangerous or violent activity, and disciplinary records, as well as information regarding “the deprivation of rights” or threats of other classmates or university personnel.

Image credits: Harvard University

“It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments,” Noem said.

“Harvard had plenty of opportunity to do the right thing. It refused.

“They have lost their Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law.

“Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.”

Tensions between Harvard and the Trump administration have been growing for months as the federal government has targeted the university’s funding and tax status.

Trump has frozen $2.3 billion in research funding for Harvard and threatened to take away the university’s tax-exempt status since he came into office.

Losing its tax-exempt status could cost Harvard millions of dollars annually.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said ‘it is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students’

This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus.

It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments… pic.twitter.com/12hJWd1J86

— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) May 22, 2025

The Trump administration has demanded Harvard change its hiring, admissions, and teaching to fight antisemitism.

They called for audits of academic programs, changes to faculty makeup to ensure ideological diversity, and the adoption of “merit-based” policies.

Harvard has firmly rejected these demands, seeing them as an infringement on its independence and constitutional rights, and says it remains committed to fighting antisemitism through its own policies and initiatives.

“No government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,” Harvard’s President Alan Garber previously stated.

Meanwhile, a federal judge in Oakland blocked the U.S. government from detaining, incarcerating, or relocating international students solely based on immigration status after more than 4,700 had their visas suddenly revoked.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White criticized the Trump administration’s handling as chaotic and harmful, noting lasting impacts on students’ legal records.