A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from revoking Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, just hours after the school filed a lawsuit challenging the move.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston issued the restraining order Friday morning, pausing a policy announced the previous day that would have stripped Harvard’s authority to sponsor student visas for the 2025–26 academic year.
Harvard’s lawsuit called the administration’s action “unconstitutional retaliation,” claiming it was punishment for the university’s refusal to comply with federal demands that allegedly infringed on academic freedom.
The suit cited violations of the First Amendment and warned of severe consequences for over 7,000 international students. “Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard,” the university argued.
