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I’m an international student from Pakistan and an incoming co-president of the Harvard Undergraduate Association. To my peers and to the Harvard administration, I have one thing to say.

The people next to you aren’t the problem.

After the Trump administration sent two letters demanding that Harvard submit to their demands or lose federal funding, the Department of Homeland Security is threatening the University’s ability to enroll international students unless it coughs up international students’ disciplinary records.

Harvard has been given a choice: We can either turn on each other — potentially sacrificing a few students’ livelihoods for a slim chance to save the rest — or stand together against a dystopian threat endangering the most vulnerable members of our community.

The way forward is obvious. Now, more than ever, we must stand united as a collective Harvard community and protect our international students instead of turning on one another. We must do so not only out of principle, but also out of practicality: Sacrificing a few of our own will not work. Trump will not stop his attacks until he gets his way with Harvard — and higher education writ large — and his authoritarian tactics thrive when we divide ourselves out of fear.

First and foremost, we must face the DHS’ threats with unity out of principle. As University President Alan M. Garber ’76 wrote in his Monday email, Harvard “will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.” For Garber and the rest of the Harvard community to live up to this bold declaration — which we must — the DHS cannot be allowed to get their hands on sensitive information on Harvard’s international students.

The choice for the Harvard administration is clear. For Garber to be consistent with the principled stance he took on Monday, he must refuse to comply with the DHS’s demands — and do more to protect the very students the new administration is targeting. Any compliance is equivalent to giving up exactly what they stood for a few days ago.

For argument’s sake, suppose that this principled stance is not convincing enough — that giving up a few names in exchange for everyone else’s security is the rational solution. Even in that case, giving up a few names won’t appease the White House anyway.

If I were Trump right now, and I wanted to bend Harvard to my will, I would first try threatening them with funding cuts. Since the University may have the financial strength to resist these cuts, I would have to utilize the other tool I have under my belt: attacking Harvard’s community — particularly its critically important international student population.

This attack doesn’t have to be one-time only. It can be exercised repeatedly until all demands are met — what would stop the White House from coming for more after kicking out 30 students? Trump can continue the threat of revoking Harvard’s SEVP status. His end goal is the extreme demands he already outlined in his Friday letter, and he won’t be satisfied with just a few international students’ information — he’ll come back for more.

The choice we are given is an illusion. The more names we turn in, the more he is going to demand. We know Trump’s poker strategy by now. The University’s administration shouldn’t play rounds it can’t win. For Harvard, refusing to play at all is the optimal option.

Separately, the White House wants us to be divided: Regimes succeed by dividing and conquering. They start with the most vulnerable — first protestors, then international students — and they don’t stop. Harvard must not give up international students’ information, including those who have been involved in campus protests of any kind. We simply cannot afford to sacrifice members of our community — they start with the most vulnerable, divide us, and eventually, they will come for everyone.

They want us to point fingers at each other. And that’s precisely what we shouldn’t do.

A Harvard divided is a Harvard that has already lost — we must stand together.

Abdullah Shahid Sial ’27 is a double concentrator in Applied Mathematics and Economics in Mather House. He is one of the incoming co-presidents of the Harvard Undergraduate Association.