Harvard sues Trump admin, calls international student ban ‘blatant violation of the First Amendment’

Harvard University has taken legal action against the Trump administration, asking the court to reverse a ban that prevents international students from enrolling. The university claims the ban, put in place by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under Secretary Kristi Noem, breaks the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

According to CNBC, this ban impacts more than 7,000 current international students who hold F-1 visas, effectively cutting out a quarter of Harvard’s student population. The DHS decision also canceled Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification, which means the university can no longer admit any new international students.

Harvard’s lawsuit argues that the ban is an illegal punishment for the university’s refusal to follow what it calls the administration’s attempts to control how Harvard is run, what it teaches, and the beliefs of its faculty and students, per CBS News. The university says the revocation is a “clear violation of the First Amendment” and the Due Process Clause, pointing out that DHS did not give Harvard a fair chance to respond or provide enough reasoning for the ban.

Harvard suing Trump administration over retaliatory ban

Harvard insists that it fully answered DHS’s requests for information about student visa holders, even though DHS claimed the responses were not good enough. The lawsuit notes that the ban was announced just days before graduation, making the situation even more disruptive and harmful. Harvard states that it submitted the required information on April 30 and provided additional details on May 14, but DHS still revoked the SEVP certification on May 22 without explanation.

The Trump administration defended the ban by accusing Harvard of allowing an unsafe campus environment where “anti-American, pro-terrorist protesters” harassed and attacked people, including Jewish students. DHS also claimed Harvard worked with the Chinese Communist Party by hosting and training members of a Chinese paramilitary group. The administration’s move against Harvard came after Secretary Noem sent a request on April 16, demanding details about every student visa holder within 10 business days.

The request accused Harvard of not doing enough to oppose antisemitism. This action also followed an earlier lawsuit filed by Harvard against the administration for cutting over $2 billion in federal funding after the university refused to audit its students and faculty for “viewpoint diversity.” That earlier dispute included the Trump administration suggesting that the IRS take away Harvard’s tax-exempt status.

Harvard President Alan Garber called the administration’s actions illegal and unnecessary. In a letter to the school community,  he wrote, “We condemn this unlawful and unwarranted action” by the Trump administration. The government has claimed that its destructive action is based on Harvard’s failure to comply with requests for information from the US Department of Homeland Security. In fact, Harvard did respond to the Department’s requests as required by law.”

The ban’s consequences go beyond just the students currently affected. A large number of Harvard’s athletes, with about 21% of players across different sports in the 2024 to 2025 season coming from other countries, would be seriously impacted by losing international student-athletes. The Chinese government spoke out against the ban, saying it would harm the United States’ reputation globally. Chinese students make up a significant part of Harvard’s international community, with 1,203 students from China enrolled in 2024.