This article originally appeared in the Dispatch on May 28, 2025.
On May 22, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) took the unprecedented step of rescinding Harvard University’s authorization to enroll international students. The move bars Harvard from enrolling any new foreign students and even forces current international students to transfer to other institutions in order to maintain their visa status or leave the U.S. altogether.
Trump administration officials cast the decision as a necessary security measure, but Harvard blasted it as “unlawful” and retaliatory, warning it would cause serious harm to the university community and threaten the nation’s higher education system. This action dramatically escalates a running conflict between the Trump administration and elite universities, coming on the heels of funding cuts and visa crackdowns aimed at campuses seen as resisting or defying the administration’s policies.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the order on May 23, but the case carries significant ramifications for campus culture wars, academic freedom, executive power, and America’s ability to attract global talent.
What led to the Harvard-Trump administration clash?
The path to the administration’s moves against Harvard’s international students began months before the May 22 bombshell. Following President Trump’s January executive order on measures to combat antisemitism on college campuses, federal agencies launched coordinated investigations into more than 50 universities, with Harvard facing particular scrutiny over its handling of campus protests related to Israel’s war in Gaza.
The breaking point came in April when the administration presented Harvard with a detailed list of demands: eliminate diversity programs, implement “viewpoint diversity” audits, reform governance structures, and accept federal oversight of curriculum and hiring decisions. When Harvard President Alan Garber rejected these demands on April 14, the administration immediately froze $2.2 billion in federal research grants and froze an additional $450 million earlier this month—roughly one-third of Harvard’s federal funding.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem sent Harvard a warning letter on April 16 threatening to revoke its Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification, which allows it and other schools to enroll international students, unless the university provided extensive records on the students’ political activities within 30 days. The letter demanded a comprehensive assessment of whether each student visa holder at Harvard had at any point engaged in dangerous, illegal, or violent activity, along with complete disciplinary records.
When Harvard refused to comply with what it viewed as overreaching and politically motivated demands, DHS made good on its threat. The May 22 revocation letter cited Harvard’s alleged creation of an “unsafe campus environment” and failure to protect Jewish students from harassment, though it identified no specific violations of SEVP regulations governing international student programs. The press release also cited instances where Harvard institutionally collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party in ways that adversely affected national security.