U.S. court blocks Trump’s effort to stop Harvard University from admitting foreign students

A court in the United States, on Friday, June 20, 2025, blocked the President Donald Trump administration’s efforts to keep Harvard University from hosting international students.

The order from U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston preserves Harvard’s ability to host foreign students while the case is decided, but it falls short of resolving all of Harvard’s legal hurdles to hosting international students.

Burroughs said the federal government still has the authority to review Harvard’s ability to host international students through normal processes outlined in law.

Harvard University sued the Department of Homeland Security in May after the agency abruptly withdrew the school’s certification to host foreign students and issue paperwork for their visas, skirting most of its usual procedures.

The action would have forced Harvard’s roughly 7,000 international students – about a quarter of its total enrollment – to transfer or risk being in the U.S. illegally. New foreign students would have been barred from coming to Harvard.

Harvard University secures court order blocking Trump’s foreign student ban

The university said it was experiencing illegal retaliation for rejecting the White House’s demands to overhaul Harvard policies related to campus protests, admissions, hiring and more.

Burroughs temporarily halted the government’s action hours after Harvard sued, AP reported.

Harvard University, in an email to international students on Friday, said: “We expect the judge to issue a more enduring decision in the coming days.

“Our Schools will continue to make contingency plans toward ensuring that our international students and scholars can pursue their academic work to the fullest extent possible, should there be a change to student visa eligibility or their ability to enroll at Harvard.”

The Star