Obama-Appointed Judge Blocks Trump Admin’s Harvard Foreign Student Ban

A Boston-based federal judge placed a temporary restraining order Friday on the Trump administration, blocking it from revoking Harvard University’s foreign student program, saying it will cause “immediate and irreparable injury.”

On Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced her department’s decision to pull Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification.

“This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,” Noem wrote in a post on social media platform X.

“It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments. Harvard had plenty of opportunity to do the right thing. It refused,” she added.

This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus.

It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments… pic.twitter.com/12hJWd1J86

— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) May 22, 2025

On Friday morning, Harvard filed a lawsuit in federal court, saying the Trump administration’s move is a “blatant violation of the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause, and the Administrative Procedure Act” and will have a “devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders.”

“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the University and its mission,” the lawsuit said. International students made up 27.2 percent of the school’s student body during the 2024-25 academic year.

U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs wrote that she granted a temporary restraining order because Harvard “will sustain immediate and irreparable injury before there is an opportunity to hear from all parties. Thus, a TRO is justified to preserve the status quo pending a hearing.”

Then-President Barack Obama appointed Burroughs to the federal bench in 2014.

🚨 JUST IN: In a VERY short amount of time, activist Judge Allison Burroughs in Massachusetts blocks the Trump administration from banning Harvard from enrolling international students.

She is an Obama appointee.

This lawsuit was filed just a couple hours ago.

INSANITY. pic.twitter.com/75r8DClh9a

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 23, 2025

In a news release, the DHS website said that on April 16, Noem requested Harvard “provide information about the criminality and misconduct of foreign students on its campus,” cautioning that “refusal to comply with this lawful order would result in SEVP termination.”

“Harvard University brazenly refused to provide the required information requested and ignored a follow up request from the Department’s Office of General [Counsel]. Secretary Noem is following through on her promise to protect students and prohibit terrorist sympathizers from receiving benefits from the U.S. government,” the release said.

In her Thursday letter to Maureen Martin, Harvard’s director of immigration services, Noem noted that the administration tried to meet halfway, but the college did not want to comply.

“Consequences must follow to send a clear signal to Harvard and all universities that want to enjoy the privilege of enrolling foreign students, that the Trump Administration will enforce the law and root out the evils of anti-Americanism and antisemitism in society and campuses,” she wrote.

Noem also offered to stay the revocation for 72 hours if Harvard wants to comply.

Politico reported that Judge Burroughs is also presiding over the case involving the Trump administration’s decision to pull $2.2 billion in funding from Harvard.

HARVARD: Bill Ackman is 100% right about Harvard’s failure to read the room. Doubling down and suing Trump insisting that it has a right to receive taxpayer funding is the EXACT opposite of what it should be doing. pic.twitter.com/ibQrFP5gxc

— @amuse (@amuse) May 23, 2025

Additionally, the judge handled a major affirmative action suit brought against Harvard, finding in 2019 that the school’s policy was not discriminatory.

The U.S. Supreme Court overruled Burrough’s decision in 2023, striking the program down.

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