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Updated June 5, 2025, at 7:26 a.m.
United States President Donald Trump issued a proclamation Wednesday evening barring foreign students from entering the U.S. to attend Harvard, citing national security concerns and accusing the University of failing to comply with federal agencies.
The order, effective immediately, suspends entry under Harvard-hosted student and exchange visitor visas. The move follows what the Trump administration described as Harvard’s “failure” to comply with Department of Homeland Security requests for information regarding alleged criminal and disciplinary activity involving international students.
The suspension is set to last six months, with the potential for extension.
The order suspends the entry of future international students and exchange visitors who planned to begin studies or research at Harvard, effectively halting new admissions under F, M, and J visa categories.
It also places current international students and researchers at Harvard under review, directing the Department of State to consider revoking existing visas on a case-by-case basis.
More than 10,000 international students and scholars study at Harvard — and admitted students for Harvard’s incoming classes largely have yet to travel to campus for the fall semester.
Trump’s proclamation comes less than three weeks after the DHS attempted to strip Harvard of its certification to enroll international students through the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, a decision that would have effectively barred the University from hosting any foreign students.
Harvard sued the federal government just one day later, and a federal judge temporarily blocked the DHS action, allowing the University to continue enrolling international students.
But Trump’s Wednesday order attempts to circumvent the ruling through presidential authority.
In a fact sheet supporting the order, Trump cited an oft-repeated set of grievances against Harvard, including allegations of campus antisemitism, support for diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, rising campus crime rates, and a failure to comply with the DHS’ records request.
Harvard swiftly clapped back, arguing that the entry ban on University affiliates was unlawful.
“This is yet another illegal retaliatory step taken by the Administration in violation of Harvard’s First Amendment rights,” University spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote in a statement. “Harvard will continue to protect its international students.”
On Wednesday evening, Trump also signed an order banning entry from 12 countries — mostly in Africa and the Middle East — and limiting entry from seven more.
In his proclamation on Harvard, Trump pointed to the University’s financial ties to foreign governments, especially China, citing The Crimson’s reporting that the University received more than $150 million in contributions from foreign governments since 2020. In recent weeks, Trump — whose administration revoked more than 1,000 visas belonging to Chinese students and scholars during his first term — has ramped up his anti-Chinese rhetoric, suggesting that Chinese students pose a national security risk.
Trump alleged that the contributions could enable adversaries to exploit U.S. academic institutions, like Harvard, for strategic gain.
In particular, he accused Harvard of partnering with individuals and groups linked to the Chinese military and of “repeatedly hosting and training” members of a Chinese Community Party-affiliated paramilitary organization. He also noted that Chinese President Xi Jinping's daughter attended Harvard under an alias from 2010 to 2014, citing it as further evidence of the University’s ties to the Chinese political elite.
Harvard is currently under congressional investigation by the House Committee on the CCP over similar allegations of ties to the Chinese government.
In the order and an accompanying fact sheet, Trump wrote that crime at Harvard had jumped in recent years. In 2023, the Harvard University Police Department responded to nearly twice as many crimes on Harvard’s Cambridge campus as it did in 2021, according to statistics released under the Clery Act. But almost all of the rise was attributable to a spike in motor vehicle theft — which, in turn, was driven mostly by stolen electric bicycles and scooters.
A jump in aggravated assaults also helped spur the increase. And the number of hate crimes on Harvard’s campus rose from three in 2021 to 10 in 2023, the most recent year for which Clery Act data is available.
But international students have not driven campus crime. The University wrote in response to the DHS’ request that it was not aware of any criminal convictions involving international students during the past two academic years.
Trump, in his order, suggested the fact the University did not report any crimes committed by international students showed it was withholding information.
While the DHS’ earlier effort to decertify Harvard’s SEVP status would have impacted both current and incoming international students equally, Trump’s order draws a sharper line: it immediately blocks entry for new students while subjecting current visa holders to review. In practice, the order halts Harvard’s international admissions pipeline, while allowing some room — albeit discretionary — for existing students to remain under “national interest.”
The legal authority cited in the proclamation — Sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act — has historically been used to restrict the entry of foreign nationals based on nationality, security status, or public health concerns. But Trump’s Wednesday order is unusual in that it applies to individuals solely based on their affiliation with a single academic institution, rather than their country of origin or visa classification.
If Harvard sues over the Trump administration’s latest move, it might face headwinds at the Supreme Court, even if it secures a temporary block.
During Trump’s first term, he repeatedly tried to ban entry from Muslim-majority countries, eventually excluding North Korean and Venezuelan nationals as well. The first two versions of his ban were stymied in court, but a third version was upheld by the Supreme Court in a victory for expansive presidential authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Immigration lawyer Ian A. Campbell wrote in a text message that Trump’s Wednesday proclamation relied on the same authority as the travel ban that was ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court.
“Even though Trump said repeatedly that he would ban entry of all Muslims,” Cambell wrote, “the Court said that because the order itself doesn’t actually ban all Muslims explicitly, it doesn’t violate the Constitution.”
Campbell wrote that, if Harvard challenges the proclamation, it may face an uphill battle — unlike the earlier travel bans, the Harvard order does not appear to disfavor a religion, which would directly implicate First Amendment rights.
“I think Harvard will ultimately have difficulty challenging this. I am sure they can get an injunction in the lower courts, but I am doubtful the Supreme Court would rule in their favor if they take the case,” Campbell wrote.
But Mary S. Hoopes, a professor at Pepperdine University with experience in immigration law, said she expected the order to be overturned in court as it violated Harvard’s First Amendment rights — the same argument that Harvard invoked in its lawsuit to preserve its SEVP status.
“This is just further retaliation against academic freedom, which is considered a special concern of the First Amendment,” she said.
—Staff writer Dhruv T. Patel can be reached at dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @dhruvtkpatel.
—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.
—Staff writer Grace E. Yoon can be reached at grace.yoon@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @graceunkyoon.
