Federal judge Allison Burroughs in Boston blocked President Donald Trump administration’s efforts to bar foreign students from entering the country on Harvard-sponsored student and exchange visitor visas (F and J), according to The Harvard Crimson.
Amid the raging legal crossfire between the US president and the Ivy League school, the US district judge issued a preliminary injunction on Monday. The 44-page order came just hours before a previous temporary block on Trump admin’s proclamation was set to expire. Although the current ruling only extends the previous temporary relief for the top university, it gives Harvard an edge until the court announces its final verdict in the lawsuit against the president’s efforts to disallow it from hosting international students.
US Judge’s injunction in Harvard vs Trump case
Addressing the administration’s plans to implement a ban on foreign students at Harvard University, Judge Burroughs wrote in the injunction, “The Proclamation quite obviously has no ‘legitimate grounding’ in its stated concerns, and it is ‘inexplicable by anything but animus.”
She added, “At its root, this case is about core constitutional rights that must be safeguarded: freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and freedom of speech, each of which is a pillar of a functioning democracy and an essential hedge against authoritarianism.”
“Here, the government’s misplaced efforts to control a reputable academic institution and squelch diverse viewpoints seemingly because they are, in some instances, opposed to this Administration’s own views, threaten these rights.”
Trump vs Harvard: Hefty allegations against each other
Trump’s proclamation barred foreign nationals from coming into the country to study at Harvard or participate in an exchange visitor program for an initial six-month period. It further directed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to weigh in on whether revoking visas of international students at the university was needed.
On Friday, the US president said that a deal with the Ivy League could be announced “over the next week or so.”
As highlighted by Harvard, Trump is violating its free speech rights under the US Constitution’s First Amendment. And so, it filed two separate lawsuits in hopes of unblocking around $2.5 billion in funding and to stop the administration from hampering its ability to host international students to attend the school.
On the other hand, Trump’s side alleged that Harvard is harbouring an unsafe environment for Jewish students by giving ground to antisemitism on its campus. In May, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that her department would be revoking the Ivy League’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification, further creating disruptions in the enrollment process for foreign students. Without handing out any evidence, she accused Harvard of “fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party.”
Judge Burroughs, however, quickly blocked the declaration.