'Illegal step': Harvard University files legal challenge over Donald Trump's foreign student ban, seeks immediate court halt
Harvard University on Thursday took a legal route to challenge US President Donald Trump's ban on foreign students. The Ivy League university amended its lawsuit and said that it will ask the court to immediately halt the enforcement of the proclamation.
"Singling out our institution for its enrollment of international students and its collaboration with other educational institutions around the world is yet another illegal step taken by the Administration to retaliate against Harvard," Harvard president Alan M. Garber said in a letter to the campus community.
"As you know, we recently obtained a temporary restraining order enjoining the Administration's illegal revocation of Harvard's Student Exchange Visa Program (SEVP) certification.
Last night's proclamation circumvents that court order. Today, we have amended our lawsuit and will ask the court to immediately halt the enforcement of the proclamation. We hope the court will act swiftly," he added.
The Harvard president also said that they are working on plans to ensure that international students and scholars can continue to pursue their work at Harvard this summer and through the coming academic year.
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School leadership will provide updates on this planning.
Additionally, the Harvard International Office will be in touch directly with students and scholars who may be affected by the proclamation, also issued last night, banning travel of citizens from certain countries to the United States.
Recent developments have intensified the feud between Trump and the University. On Wednesday, Trump issued a directive aiming to prevent US entry for Harvard's international students, potentially affecting thousands scheduled to arrive at the Cambridge, Massachusetts campus for summer and fall terms.
Harvard's subsequent legal challenge questioned Trump's use of federal law allowing him to restrict a "class of aliens" deemed harmful to national interests. The university argued that targeting only Harvard-bound students fails to constitute a "class of aliens".
"The President's actions thus are not undertaken to protect the 'interests of the United States,' but instead to pursue a government vendetta against Harvard," the university wrote.
The administration's heightened scrutiny of student visas nationwide has created widespread uncertainty. Earlier this spring, thousands of students temporarily lost their US residency permissions before the decision was reversed. Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently announced plans to "aggressively revoke" visas for Chinese students.
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