Harvard sues Trump admin over foreign student ban, describes it as ‘government vendetta’

Harvard filed an amended complaint in federal court on Thursday arguing that the Trump administration’s decision to ban entry to foreign students with F and J visas if they plan to attend the Ivy League is unconstitutional.

Over 7,000 students at Harvard hold F-1 or J-1 visas. Without those certifications, they can’t study, teach, or conduct research in the U.S. The ban also affects their families and dependents.

According to the university’s lawsuit, the proclamation “lacks any lawful basis” and does not apply to any broad group of immigrants.

“Nonimmigrants may enter the country unabated, as long as they do not attend Harvard,” the complaint states.

TRUMP IS DOWN BUT NOT OUT IN COURT BATTLE OVER HARVARD’S FOREIGN STUDENT VISAS

Harvard sues the Trump administration over a visa ban it calls a political vendetta targeting foreign students and punishing the university’s refusal to comply. (RICK FRIEDMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Harvard argues the measure does not target a “class of aliens,” but instead singles out Harvard-bound students, calling it a “government vendetta” rather than a national security measure.

In April, a federal task force led by the Trump administration sent the university a list of demands, including ideological screening of students and faculty, “viewpoint diversity” quotas in hiring and admissions, and punishment of student activist groups. 

The administration also demanded Harvard report foreign funding sources and allow government oversight of internal policies.

When Harvard refused, the government froze $2.2 billion in research funding. Trump later posted on Truth Social that Harvard should lose its tax-exempt status if it continued to “push radical ideology.” In another post, he accused the school of hiring “woke, Radical Left, idiots” and claimed it was no longer a great university.

TRUMP ACCUSES HARVARD OF BEING ‘VERY SLOW’ TO TURN OVER FOREIGN STUDENT INFO

A graduate’s cap reads “Learn to Change the World” during Harvard’s commencement ceremony on May 29, 2025, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Libby O’Neill/Getty Images)

The Department of Homeland Security revoked Harvard’s SEVP (Student and Exchange Visitor Program) certification a few days later, which allows the school to sponsor international students, but a federal judge blocked that decision.

Harvard now says that the administration is using Trump’s proclamation to do what the courts have already stopped.

The government claims Harvard failed to provide complete information on its international student population, but the university says it has submitted all records required by law and that the revocation is a pretext. 

“There is no lawful justification for the government’s unprecedented actions,” the university said in Thursday’s filing.

The amended complaint also reveals that Harvard is being represented by Robert Hur, the former special counsel who interviewed former President Joe Biden.

Harvard says the Trump administration is targeting the university specifically. (Getty Images)

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin responded to the lawsuit by saying it “seeks to kneecap the President’s constitutionally vested powers under Article II. It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students.

“The Trump administration is committed to restoring common sense to our student visa system; no lawsuit, this or any other, is going to change that. We have the law, the facts, and common sense on our side.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

International students now face uncertainty as the legal battle wages on. Jing, a 23-year-old Chinese graduate student interning in Asia, told The Associated Press: “It is tiring; we all feel numb now.” 

Another student, Yonas Nuguse from Ethiopia, who was accepted after surviving war and a school shutdown, also told The AP, “I hope the situation is temporary and I can enroll on time.”

Fox News’ Louis Casiano and David Spunt contributed to this report.