The Department of Homeland Security has announced that it will revoke Harvard University’s ability to host foreign students due to its continued toleration of violence, intimidation tactics, and student promotion of terrorism.
Homeland Security is not making the claim that most or all of these students are violent or support terrorism–which would violate the terms of their visas in any case–but that Harvard has failed to cooperate by turning over a treasure trove of documents it has collected that could help Homeland Security sort out the students who have violated the terms on their visas and those who haven’t.
— Resist the Mainstream (@ResisttheMS) May 23, 2025
Harvard is, of course, suing, and is doing so on the basis that this move is a violation of the school’s First Amendment rights. The problem with that argument–and in saying this, I am not predicting that Harvard will lose the case, but rather am just pointing out that their claims are false on their face–is that Homeland Security’s rationale is that Harvard is conspiring to prevent Homeland Security from doing its job.
The threat to Harvard’s international enrollment stems from an April 16 request from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who demanded that Harvard provide information about foreign students that might implicate them in violence or protests that could lead to their deportation.
Noem said Harvard can regain its ability to host foreign students if it produces a trove of records on foreign students within 72 hours. Her updated request demands all records, including audio or video footage, of foreign students participating in protests or dangerous activity on campus.
The suit is separate from the university’s earlier one challenging more than $2 billion in federal cuts imposed by the Republican administration.
In other words, Homeland Security is investigating students for their behavior, not their speech or opinions, and Harvard is withholding evidence. And since Harvard is willing to conspire to help students break the US government’s policies on giving visas, it will no longer have the right to host foreign students.
27% of Harvard’s student body is international. This is brutal for them. Everyone involved should feel immense pressure to resolve this quickly. pic.twitter.com/LitZZlngBa
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) May 23, 2025
Makes sense to me. Harvard is aiding and abetting crimes, right?
In principle, this is a compelling argument, especially since there is a simple solution for Harvard: comply with the request, which doesn’t implicate anybody’s First Amendment rights in the first place.
SHUTTING THE IVY DOOR TO FOREIGN STUDENTS
The Trump Administration (DHS) has revoked Harvard’s ability to register foreign students completely.@StanleyRidgley @JakeJakeNY pic.twitter.com/UqPqr7LYYr— Real America’s Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) May 23, 2025
Most people don’t realize how important foreign students are to the financial health of colleges and universities these days. Harvard’s student body is about 25% foreign, and almost all these students pay full tuition prices, unlike domestic students. They are a cash cow, especially since foreign students also encourage donations and grants from foreign governments, donors, and NGOs.
The Trump administration on Thursday said it would halt Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, taking aim at a crucial funding source for the nation’s oldest and wealthiest college in a major escalation of the administration’s efforts to pressure the elite school to fall in line with the president’s agenda.
The administration notified Harvard about the decision — which could affect about a quarter of the school’s student body — after a back-and-forth in recent weeks over the legality of a sprawling records request as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s investigation, according to three people with knowledge of the negotiations. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Harvard’s escalating war with the Trump administration reveals an Achilles’ heel for almost every institution of higher education in the country: they are essentially subsidiaries of the government in financial terms, whose independence from government oversight is a gift granted to them out of deference to their prestige–and such deference is only a “norm,” not a legal protection.
The impact is heaviest at graduate schools such as the Harvard Kennedy School, where almost half the student body comes from abroad, and Harvard Business School, which is about one-third international.
Along with its impact on current students, the move blocks thousands of students who were planning to come for summer and fall classes.
Harvard said it immediately puts the school at a disadvantage as it competes for the world’s top students. Even if it regains the ability to host students, “future applicants may shy away from applying out of fear of further reprisals from the government,” the suit said.
If the government’s action stands, Harvard said, the university would be unable to offer admission to new international students for at least the next two academic years. Schools that have that certification withdrawn by the federal government are ineligible to reapply until one year afterward, Harvard said.
Harvard and other universities break federal law many times a day, and rarely face any consequences. Prestige alone has protected them–and it may save them yet, because so many judges, lawyers, and legislators are associated with these institutions.
The other side of the coin, though, is that the average American is repelled by how anti-American our universities are, and how open they are about their lawbreaking. The elite are screaming bloody murder, but the rest of America shrugs. Why should they be forced to pay to get insulted, ridiculed, and often hurt by these elites?
Whether or not Harvard wins their cases in court, the school will be hurt by these moves. Trump is creating uncertainty about continued funding streams, which may drive away researchers who rely on grants, and foreign students may look at Harvard as a risky investment, fearing that their visas may get yanked. Best go to some other school.
Probably not Columbia, though.
