Citing China ‘activity’, Trump administration bars Harvard from enrolling foreign students

Donald Trump’s administration said on Thursday it had revoked Harvard’s right to enrol foreign students amid an escalating fight between the US president and the prestigious university.

“Effective immediately, Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor (SEVIS) Programme certification is revoked,” US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote in a letter to the Ivy League institution, referring to the main system by which foreign students are permitted to study in the United States.

The move means Harvard can no longer enrol international students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status, the letter said.

Harvard enrols almost 6,800 foreign students at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, accounting for more than a quarter of its student body. Most are graduate students, coming from more than 100 countries.

“This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,” Noem added.

“It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enrol foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments.”