Harvard has added Donald Trump's proclamation barring new foreign students at the university from entering the United States to existing legal action against the administration, which it accuses of "retaliation" action.
A proclamation issued by the White House late Wednesday declared that the entrance of international students to begin a course at Harvard would be "suspended and limited" for six months, and that existing foreign enrollees risked having their visas terminated.
"Harvard's conduct has rendered it an unsuitable destination for foreign students and researchers," the order said.
In an amended complaint filed in federal court, Harvard said, "This is not the Administration's first attempt to sever Harvard from its international students."
"(It) 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."
Wednesday’s announcement came after the Trump administration’s earlier efforts to terminate Harvard’s right to enrol and host foreign students were stalled by a judge.
‘Government vendetta’
Harvard quickly filed a lawsuit against that effort on 23 May, expanding the action on Thursday to include the latest legal push.
The government has already cut around $3.2 billion in federal grants and contracts benefiting Harvard and pledged to exclude the Cambridge, Massachusetts, institution from any future federal funding.
Harvard has been at the forefront of Trump’s campaign against top universities after it defied his calls to submit to oversight of its curriculum, staffing, student recruitment, and "viewpoint diversity".
Trump has also singled out international students at Harvard, who accounted for 27 percent of total enrollment in the 2024–2025 academic year and are a major source of income.
In its filing, Harvard acknowledged that Trump had the authority to bar an entire class of aliens if it was deemed to be in the public interest, but stressed that was not the case in this action.
"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," it said.
Since returning to office, Trump has targeted elite US universities over pro-Palestine protests and other issues.
Trump’s education secretary also threatened on Wednesday to strip Columbia University of its accreditation.
The Republican has targeted the New York Ivy League institution for allegedly ignoring harassment of Jewish students, throwing all of its federal funding into doubt.
Unlike Harvard, several top institutions — including Columbia — have already bowed to far-reaching demands from the Trump administration.
