Headline Roundup • May 22nd, 2025
Trump Admin Bars Harvard From Enrolling International Students
Education,Deportations,Harvard,Kristi Noem,Donald Trump,Trump Administration,Colleges And Universities
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote a letter to Harvard University barring it from enrolling international students and ordering current international students to transfer elsewhere.
From The Trump Admin: The White House said “enrolling foreign students is a privilege, not a right,” calling Harvard a “hotbed of anti-American, anti-Semitic, pro-terrorist agitators.”
From Harvard: Harvard called this move “retaliatory” and argued it “undermines Harvard’s academic and research mission.” The university said, “We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard’s ability to host our international students and scholars, who… enrich the university—and this nation — immeasurably.”
For Context: The Trump administration has been in conflict with Harvard since April, when it sent the school a list of demands, including the elimination of DEI programs and a government audit of its faculty and students. Harvard did not comply with these demands, leading President Donald Trump to freeze $2 billion in federal funding to the school.
How The Media Covered It: The Hill (Center bias) wrote that the “framing of the issue from MAGA World is that Harvard and other elite colleges are bastions of far-left thought and quasi-subversive activity,” noting that this argument “will have some sway with his loyal base, among which Americans who have never gone to any college are heavily represented.” CNN (Lean Left) quoted an international student who sees this as a “larger fight between democracy and authoritarianism.” Washington Times (Lean Right) reported on a Harvard task force study, which concluded that Harvard “failed to constrain abusive behavior towards Jewish students.”
Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.
Featured Coverage of this Story
The Trump administration intensified its battle with Harvard University on Thursday, revoking the storied college’s ability to enroll foreign students and demanding that any such current students transfer elsewhere for the next academic year or lose their visas.
The decision was laid out in a letter from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to Harvard’s director of immigration services, Maureen Martin.
The Trump administration on Thursday revoked Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, marking a sharp escalation in the battle over the Ivy League school’s autonomy in the face of the administration’s policy demands.
“Harvard can no longer enroll foreign students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status,” the US Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordered her department to terminate Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, making good on a promise made last month when she demanded the university...
AP Photo/Charles Krupa
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem moved Thursday to decertify Harvard University from the government’s foreign student program, meaning the school can no longer host them and any students already enrolled must try to transfer. Ms. Noem said the decision is punishment for Harvard’s “pro-terrorist conduct.” She said that included fostering antisemitism and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party. “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,” she said. “Harvard had plenty of...
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