Yale and 47 other U.S. colleges and universities nationwide filed a legal brief on Jan. 19 to assist judicial review in a lawsuit challenging the federal government’s effort to rescind a university’s right to host international students.
In an amicus curiae, or “friend of the court,” brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, the institutions argue that the ability to attract “the best and brightest from all over the world has long been one of the United States’ competitive advantages.”
Lawsuit
The brief, filed in a lawsuit brought by Harvard, contends that the U.S. Congress “has long maintained avenues for individuals from all over the world to pursue higher education in the United States.” This long-term investment in foreign-born talent, the brief argues, has helped to make U.S. colleges and universities world-class research institutions capable of tackling pressing global challenges.
“These students have gone on to cure diseases, invent transformational technologies, and found companies that have fueled American economic growth,” the brief states.
In May 2025, Harvard sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security after the agency abruptly withdrew the university’s certification to host foreign students. A month later, a federal district judge issued a preliminary injunction that preserved the university’s ability to continue welcoming foreign students while the case is being decided. The federal government appealed the ruling.
The new amicus brief urges the appeals court to affirm the preliminary injunction.
It argues that canceling an institution’s student visa program causes long-term and short-term harms, such as disrupting clinical trials and other ongoing projects, stifling promising scientific careers, and creating labor shortages.
Moreover, it creates a chilling effect nationwide that might encourage talented foreign-born students to pursue their education elsewhere rather than face constant uncertainty about their visa status, the brief asserts.
“And for the American public, the destabilization of student visa programs via arbitrary cancellations threatens to stymie progress in scientific research, medical advancement, and technological innovation, with untold and irreversible consequences for the United States,” the brief continues.
The brief notes that “individuals born outside the U.S. accounted for 40% of U.S.-based Nobel Laureates in physics, chemistry, and medicine from 2000 to 2023.”
And, it argues, foreign-born Americans have contributed to many of the country’s most important scientific advances over the past century, including the internet, the mapping of the human genome, vaccines for diseases like polio and COVID-19, and the computer chips that are driving the AI revolution.
The brief contends that the scientific accomplishments of foreign-born U.S. citizens have spurred tremendous economic growth. For instance, it notes, Google, Nvidia, and Tesla — companies that together are worth more than $8 trillion and employ more than 300,000 people — were founded or co-founded by individuals born abroad.
The brief also points out that the hundreds of thousands of international students enrolled at U.S. institutions are contributing “to essential cutting-edge research,” such as work currently happening at Yale to understand how inflammation affects metabolism, aging, and cancer.
Aside from disrupting research, canceling student visa programs would intensify serious physician shortages in the United States and undermine the country’s competitiveness in science, technology, and medicine, according to the brief.
“Recognizing that the United States does not have a monopoly on scientific talent, Congress designed our immigration laws to allow American colleges and universities to attract the best students from all over the world,” the brief states. “In return, those students have contributed to groundbreaking innovations, cutting-edge technology, and lifesaving research to the United States. And they have enhanced the education of all students,” the brief added.
Harvard In 2025
In 2025, despite pressure from the Trump administration to limit the enrollment of international students, Harvard University achieved its highest percentage of international students in decades for the fall admission, according to The PIE News.
International students represented 28% of Harvard’s enrolment in 2025, totaling approximately 6,749 students, the highest share since 2002. Despite challenges, Harvard experienced a slight increase of about 50 students compared to the previous year.
The growth contrasts with the overall US trend, where international enrollment at American universities declined by approximately 1% during the same timeframe. Harvard continues to attract international students, especially at the graduate level, despite political challenges.