United States President Donald Trump has announced a fresh restriction targeting foreign students, this time banning all new international students planning to study at Harvard University.
In a statement released late Wednesday, Trump said: “I have determined that it is necessary to restrict the entry of foreign nationals who seek to enter the United States solely or principally to participate in a course of study at Harvard University or in an exchange visitor program hosted by Harvard University.”
The new policy takes effect immediately and blocks visa approvals for foreign students hoping to begin their studies at Harvard through the Student and Exchange Visitor Program.
Trump also warned that current international students already enrolled at Harvard may have their visas reviewed — and possibly revoked.
The decision is being described as part of Trump’s broader fight with the academic community, especially elite institutions like Harvard, which have resisted what they see as government interference in how they teach, recruit, and conduct research.
According to the statement, the restriction is to protect national security.
“In my judgement, it presents an unacceptable risk to our Nation’s security for an academic institution to refuse to provide sufficient information, when asked, about known instances of misconduct and criminality committed by its foreign students,” Trump said.
He further accused Harvard and its related campus organisations of denying fair chances to American citizens.
“It is not in the interest of the United States to further compound Harvard’s discrimination against non-preferred races, national origins, shared ancestries, or religions by further reducing opportunities for American students through excessive foreign student enrollment,” he said.
The visa ban currently applies only to Harvard.
The move comes just days after a federal judge had temporarily blocked a previous attempt by the Trump administration to prevent Harvard from enrolling international students. That court case followed concerns raised during recent graduation ceremonies.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has also said that the country will “aggressively” revoke student visas, especially those issued to students from China.
This is not the first time the Trump administration has taken action against foreign students. However, Wednesday’s order marks the first time a single university — in this case, Harvard — has been directly targeted.
