Harvard University has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for banning admission of international students.
Earlier, US Homeland Security Minister Kristi Noem wrote on social media platform X that the administration has canceled Harvard's "international student admission program due to its failure to comply with the law."
According to Harvard University data, more than six thousand seven hundred international students took admission in the last academic year. This is 27 percent of the total number of students.
Harvard University said Trump administration’s decision to bar the Ivy League school from enrolling foreign students was unconstitutional and retaliation for the school previously defying the White House’s political demands.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Boston, Harvard said the government’s action violates the first amendment of the US constitution and will have an “immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders”.
“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the university and its mission,” Harvard said in its suit. The institution added that it plans to file for a temporary restraining order to block the Department of Homeland Security from carrying out the move.
Harvard enrolls almost 6,800 foreign students at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Most are graduate students and they come from more than 100 countries.