Harvard SUES Trump admin for blocking international student admissions

A federal judge in Massachusetts on Friday blocked the Trump administration's effort to ban international students from Harvard University, an unprecedented tactic by the federal government as it tries to exert control over some of the nation's most elite campuses.

Harvard filed a lawsuit Friday morning after the Department of Homeland Security revoked the school’s certification to enroll international students. The government said Thursday foreign students must transfer from the university or risk losing their visa status, escalating President Donald Trump’s pitched battle with the Ivy League school.

“Today’s ruling delays justice and seeks to kneecap the President’s constitutionally vested powers under Article II,” DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in an email. “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; that fact hasn’t changed.” She said the Trump administration is committed to “restoring common sense to our student visa system, and we expect a higher court to vindicate us in this. We have the law, the facts, and common sense on our side.”

Caption from article by Susan Svrluga.