Judge rules Trump can't invoke national security powers to ban foreign Harvard students

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A federal judge once again has sided with Harvard University, rejecting another Trump administration attempt to ban Harvard foreign students from entering the country to study, according to a Monday evening decision.
'Here, the government's misplaced efforts to control a reputable academic institution and squelch diverse viewpoints seemingly because they are, in some instances, opposed to this Administration's own views, threaten these rights. To make matters worse, the government attempts to accomplish this, at least in part, on the backs of international students, with little thought to the consequences to them or, ultimately, to our own citizens,' wrote U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs.
She said the case is about 'core constitutional rights that must be safeguarded: freedom of thought, freedom of expression and freedom of speech, each of which is a pillar of a functioning democracy and an essential hedge against authoritarianism.'
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation that invoked national security powers to bar Harvard's international students from entering the country.
The order comes after U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs ruled in the university's favor for a separate preliminary injunction on Friday, allowing Harvard to host international students.
The pair of injunctions effectively replaces two temporary restraining orders on those issues that were granted in May and June.
Burroughs still needs to rule on the legality of the case, but the injunctions provide a pause until that happens.
It comes after Trump boasted on Friday of a 'mindbogglingly HISTORIC' deal with Harvard University.
The reported deal is on the back of months of battling between the two parties, where the Trump administration has claimed the university failed to protect Jewish students, particularly in the wake of the war in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Harvard has claimed the government aims to wreak 'havoc' on the institution, 'throwing into disarray every aspect of campus life,' the university's legal team wrote in a request for a temporary restraining order.
'The government has done so not because of any concerns about the risks posed by those students — who (as the Proclamation says expressly) could be admitted to the United States if they sought to attend any other school in the country — but instead solely to punish Harvard and force it to yield to the Administration's unlawful demands,' the institution continued.
Since the battle between the two, international students and U.S. students have been considering transferring to other universities.
About 27% of Harvard's undergraduate and graduate students are international, according to 2024 to 2025 data.
Harvard international students have been wrongly detained at Boston Logan Airport and denied visas, according to Maureen Martin, Harvard's Director of Immigration Services, who wrote in a court filing.
The Trump administration, in a lengthy 44-page brief, stated its opposition to a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction in the case.
'That Harvard has now become the subject of an immigration related enforcement action is neither discriminatory nor retaliatory. It reflects considered enforcement discretion directed to address well-founded national-security concerns, which courts cannot question,' the federal government wrote.
The battle over international students started when the Department of Homeland Security said it was revoking a key certification that allows Harvard University's international students to study there.
The institution was offered an ultimatum by the Trump administration to lose the certification or give up information about its foreign student population.
Quickly after, Judge Burroughs granted a temporary restraining order.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio later stated that the U.S. would begin revoking the visas of some Chinese students and increase vetting of social media accounts of student visa applicants.
Following the revocation attempt, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation that barred Harvard's international students from entering the country to study. He also directed Rubio to consider stopping the processing of Harvard student visas.
A temporary restraining order from Burroughs blocked that, and the State Department ordered embassies around the world to resume processing Harvard University student visas.
Harvard has a separate lawsuit in reaction to the federal government freezing or cutting nearly $3 billion in federal funding, citing antisemitism at Harvard.
'In the Trump Administration, discrimination will not be tolerated on campus. Federal funds must support institutions that protect all students,' the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services wrote in May as it cut $60 million in grants to Harvard.
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Read the original article on MassLive.