Harvard wins initial court fight to keep its international students

Harvard won a temporary victory on Thursday in a legal battle with the Trump administration over whether it can enroll international students, after a federal judge said that the university could continue to do so for now.

The judge, Allison D. Burroughs, said she would extend an order from last week blocking the government’s attempts to prevent international students from enrolling at the school as the two sides continue to argue the matter in court.

At the same time, lawyers for the Department of Homeland Security hinted that the Trump administration was pursuing other ways to bar international students from enrolling at the Ivy League university.

The Trump administration had been trying to ban international students at Harvard as part of a multipronged attack against the school, which has included halting billions in federal funds. Government officials have accused the school of harboring antisemitism and, in a court filing on Thursday, also accused the school of working with the Chinese Communist Party.

The government has not offered any particular evidence for these claims, and Harvard officials have maintained they are in full compliance with legal requirements to report foreign donations. The university has accused the Trump administration of violating its First Amendment rights and targeting it as part of a political crusade.

Its lawyers have cited a barrage of social media posts by President Donald Trump that attack the university and its professors for their political ideology.

Harvard sued the Trump administration last week after the government announced that it would revoke the university’s authorization to enroll students from abroad. Hours after the lawsuit was filed, Burroughs issued a short-term ban on those efforts.

In the Thursday hearing in federal district court in Boston, the judge voiced concerns that the government was in violation of that earlier order by attempting to prevent foreign students from enrolling. She cited complaints in a filing late Wednesday by Harvard, which included examples of its students being hassled at airports.

The Trump administration sent a last-minute notice offering the university an additional 30 days to respond to its demands just hours before squaring off against Harvard’s lawyers in federal court.

During the hearing, lawyers for the government argued that a court order blocking the Trump administration’s action would be unnecessary given the extension. But Burroughs said she wanted to issue an injunction anyway, repeating concerns that student visas were being delayed or rescinded.

“I have to say that I would feel more comfortable if an order were in place,” Burroughs responded, agreeing with a lawyer for Harvard, Ian Gershengorn.

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