Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump From Revoking Harvard Enrollment of Foreign Students

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A U.S judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from revoking Harvard University’s ability to enroll foreign students. The Ivy League school called this an attempt of President Trump’s retaliation against it for refusing to “surrender its academic independence.” The judge’s order provides temporary relief to thousands of international students who were faced with being forced to transfer. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based university called Trump’s actions a “blatant violation” of the U.S. Constitution and other federal laws. It is estimated that more than 7,000 visa holders would have been faced with a devastating decision due to Trump’s administration.

“Without its international students. Harvard is not Harvard,” the infamous 389-year-old school said in its lawsuit filed earlier on Friday in Boston federal court. Harvard has a significant portion of international students enrolled, around nearly 6,800 in its current school year, equal to 27% of total enrollment. Trump wants to convince universities, law firms, news media, courts, and other institutions to align with his agenda. He has repeatedly mentioned and accused elite universities of having a left-wing bias.

Harvard has taken action against the Trump administration by taking them to court in order to restore nearly $3 billion in federal grants that had been frozen or canceled. The administration has recently proposed ending Harvard’s tax-exempt status and hiking taxes on its endowment, which is a gift of money or property that is kept intact, but only a portion of the income earned on that principle is used to support the institution’s operations.

Harvard said the renovation would force it to retract admissions for thousands of people who have fairly earned the right to attend the prestigious school. Many academic programs, clinics, courses, and research laboratories have been thrown into disarray, just a few days before graduation.