Identity of Speakers
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n/a
Student
Other
Resources
Additional Information
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Incident Nature:
Lawsuit
Other
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Incident Political Orientation:
Not Clear -
Incident Responses:
Litigation
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Incident Status:
In litigation Federal District Court
- Did not involve Speech Codes
Summary
In late May 2025, the Department of Homeland Security revoked Harvard University’s certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, preventing it from enrolling new international students. Harvard filed President and Fellows of Harvard College v. Department of Homeland Security to challenge the revocation. On May 22, Judge Allison Burroughs issued a temporary restraining order blocking DHS from enforcing the revocation, finding that Harvard faced immediate and irreparable harm.
On June 4, 2025, President Trump issued a proclamation barring new foreign students from entering the United States to attend Harvard and authorized the State Department to revoke visas of current students. The administration cited national security and foreign influence concerns as well as Harvard’s refusal to provide information about known illegal activity. On June 5, Judge Burroughs issued a temporary restraining order preventing enforcement of the proclamation, maintaining the ability of international students to enter the country and continue their studies while the litigation proceeded.
During June and July 2025, Harvard pursued its lawsuit while the administration took additional steps. On July 23, the State Department opened an investigation into Harvard’s compliance with J-1 Exchange Visitor Program regulations. Harvard challenged the investigation as politically motivated. During this period, President Trump publicly criticized Judge Burroughs on Truth Social, calling her a Trump-hating judge and a total disaster. Harvard maintained that the combination of the proclamation, the SEVP revocation, and other federal actions were retaliatory.
On August 7, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security filed a stipulation agreeing not to enforce the May 22 revocation letter, stating it wanted to simplify the case and narrow the issues in dispute. The court allowed Harvard’s central challenge to the presidential proclamation to proceed while dismissing some broader claims. On August 9, the Justice Department moved to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the SEVP revocation was moot and the proclamation was legally justified under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Harvard countered that the actions remained unconstitutional, and litigation remained active as of mid-August.
In support of Harvard, the American Council on Education and 22 other national higher-education associations filed an amicus brief with the First Circuit Court of Appeals. The brief argued that the presidential proclamation was an unprecedented use of executive power, threatened institutional autonomy, and undermined academic freedom and First Amendment protections. The associations stated that allowing the government to act against a single university could create a chilling effect on colleges nationwide
