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The Trump administration told a federal court on Monday that it has directed consulates and embassies not to base decisions for Harvard visa applicants on its May 22 revocation of Harvard’s ability to host international students.
The report was filed in line with the preliminary injunction issued Friday by U.S. District Judge District Judge Allison D. Burroughs. Burroughs ordered the government to invalidate its May 22 revocation of Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification by instructing consular officers to disregard the notice and restore affected visa applicants and holders to their prior status.
The preliminary injunction asked the government to demonstrate its compliance by submitting a formal status update within 72 hours.
In their Monday report, the government’s lawyers wrote that no students had been denied F or J visas on the basis of the May 22 revocation since Burroughs first granted a temporary restraining order against the SEVP revocation on May 23.
Harvard, however, has previously disputed that claim. In an amended complaint filed on June 6, Harvard’s lawyers wrote that several incoming international students and researchers had been denied visas and faced significant disruptions due to the SEVP revocation.
Many of the visa applicants were placed on administrative processing under section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows consular staff to put the application process in limbo as they wait for additional information. The status can be opaque, without a clear path forward for applicants — though some were since given the opportunity to submit extra documents, according to Harvard’s amended complaint.
The government wrote on Monday that it had drafted guidance informing employees who manage Student and Exchange Visitor Program designations that Harvard’s certification is not currently revoked.
The State Department told consulates that they cannot deny visas or determine someone has not maintained their legal status on the basis of the May 22 order. And the Department of Homeland Security told its officers at ports of entry not to deny admission or remove travelers based on the May 22 order.
But the administration is poised to take aim at Harvard’s SEVP certification again. On May 28, Trump administration lawyers — in an attempt to fend off arguments that the DHS had committed a procedural violation — sent Harvard a formal notice stating that the government intended to withdraw the University’s certification.
The notice gave Harvard 30 days to demonstrate compliance with SEVP regulations, which the DHS has argued hinges on Harvard fulfilling a records request first issued in April demanding information on international students’ protest participation.
The 30-day window is set to expire on Friday. When Harvard’s lawyers filed their proposal for the preliminary injunction on June 13, they asked Burroughs to reset the clock on the 30-day period, but she decided against it after the government submitted a competing draft, which argued that restarting the timeframe unnecessarily interfered with its authority.
The Trump administration lawyers wrote in Monday’s status report that the DHS is still reviewing Harvard’s compliance with federal laws that require it to submit certain documentation on international students in order to retain SEVP certification.
And in a Washington Post op-ed on Monday, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem wrote that she remains prepared to revoke Harvard’s SEVP certification, alleging the University has still not complied with the DHS’ “lawful oversight duties.”
“Harvard is now claiming that it intends to comply with SEVP standards, but we need to see proof,” Noem wrote. “If it wants to maintain its designation, it must provide DHS with all of the requested documentation, adhere to the program’s requirements, and refrain from collaboration with hostile foreign actors.”
University spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Trump administration also targeted Harvard’s international students through a separate proclamation issued on June 4, which barred foreign students from entering the U.S. to attend Harvard. On June 5, Burroughs issued a TRO blocking the proclamation.
Burroughs declined to include the proclamation in the Friday order— though Harvard had asked her to — but on Monday evening, she granted a separate preliminary injunction halting enforcement of the proclamation.
—Staff writer Samuel A. Church can be reached at samuel.church@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @samuelachurch.
—Staff writer Cam N. Srivastava can be reached at cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @camsrivastava.
