Judge blocks Trump's move to stop international Harvard students from entering US
A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's proclamation that sought to bar Harvard University's international students from entering the country.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs issued a temporary restraining order Thursday night barring Trump from implementing the proclamation, writing the policy risks causing "immediate and irreparable injury."
Her order temporarily restricts the government from "implementing, instituting, maintaining, enforcing, or giving force or effect" to Trump's proclamation.
The judge's order comes after Harvard sued refiled a lawsuit on Thursday afternoon to block the new proclamation, arguing it violates the First Amendment and misuses the federal law Trump used to justify the move.
"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 filing said.
The same judge last week blocked the Trump administration from carrying out a similar plan to revoke Harvard's ability to enroll international students. In the filing, lawyers for Harvard argued both Trump's proclamation Wednesday and the Department of Homeland Security's effort to revoke the school's ability to enroll international students are unlawful and retaliatory.
"Each is part of a concerted and escalating campaign of retaliation by the government in clear retribution for Harvard's exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government's demands to control Harvard's governance, curriculum, and the 'ideology' of its faculty and students," the filing stated.
Trump signed the proclamation on Wednesday afternoon, invoking the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit the entry of noncitizens from entering the U.S. to study at Harvard for at least six months. Trump argued the institution is "no longer a trustworthy steward" of international students.
The proclamation also directed the secretary of state to consider revoking the visas of foreign students already in the U.S. to study at Harvard.
"I have determined that the entry of the class of foreign nationals described above is detrimental to the interests of the United States because, in my judgment, Harvard's conduct has rendered it an unsuitable destination for foreign students and researchers," the proclamation said.
The move marked an escalation in the Trump administration's ongoing feud with Harvard.
Last month, the Department of Homeland Security tried to revoke Harvard's Student and Exchange Visitor Program -- which allows the school to sponsor foreign students – but a federal judge issued a temporary order blocking the move.
While the Trump administration backtracked on the move by giving Harvard 30 days to contest the revocation, Judge Burroughs said she would issue a preliminary injunction last week temporarily prohibiting the Trump administration from restricting the school's ability to host international students.
Trump justified the new proclamation Wednesday by claiming Harvard has refused to provide information about international students, has "extensive entanglements with foreign countries," and has discriminated in their admissions practices. The proclamation also claimed crime rates have "drastically risen" at the school and requires the government to probe the potential misconduct of foreign students.
"These concerns have compelled the Federal Government to conclude that Harvard University is no longer a trustworthy steward of international student and exchange visitor programs," the proclamation said.
