Judge blocks Trump effort to prevent international students at Harvard

A federal judge in Boston sided with Harvard University on Friday and blocked a Trump administration effort to rescind the school’s right to host international students.

The government’s moves against Harvard have thrown the lives of thousands of visiting scholars into temporary disarray. But Friday’s ruling by Judge Allison D. Burroughs allows Harvard’s long-standing participation in the Student and Visitor Exchange Program to continue, at least for now.

The administration had sought to exclude the school from that program, which allows 7,000 Harvard students and recent graduates to study and work legally in the United States.

In a three-page preliminary injunction, Burroughs said the government was forbidden from “implementing, instituting, maintaining, or giving any force or effect” to the Department of Homeland Security’s push last month to force Harvard out of the international student program.

The judge also ruled that the government had to tell American diplomatic posts and ports of entry to “disregard” instructions to restrict Harvard’s participation.

Although Burroughs stopped short of embracing all of Harvard’s requests, a spokesperson for the university said Friday that the ruling “allows Harvard to continue enrolling international students and scholars while the case moves forward” and that the university would “continue to defend its rights – and the rights of its students and scholars.”

In a statement late Friday, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said the injunction conflicted with presidential authority.

“The Trump administration is committed to restoring common sense to our student visa system,” she said.

Earlier Friday, President Donald Trump claimed in a post on social media that U.S. officials had been “working closely with Harvard, and it is very possible that a Deal will be announced over the next week or so.”

The university, Trump said, had “acted extremely appropriately during these negotiations” and appeared “to be committed to doing what is right.” He added: “If a Settlement is made on the basis that is currently being discussed, it will be ‘mindbogglingly’ HISTORIC, and very good for our Country.”

Harvard did not immediately respond to an inquiry about Trump’s assertions.

Burroughs gave the government 72 hours to describe “the steps taken to ensure compliance” with Friday’s order. But the judge did not shield Harvard from indefinite scrutiny. Rather, she said, the government could still review the university’s compliance with federal regulations and send “routine requests for information and documents.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.