United States President Donald Trump has announced the suspension of foreign student visas at Harvard University.
This means international students seeking to study or participate in exchange programs at the prestigious Ivy League institution will be unable to do so for the next six months.
Trump, in a proclamation, signed on June 4, 2025, cited national security concerns and Harvard’s alleged failure to comply with federal regulations.
The president also declared that his decision to halt applications for foreign student visas at Harvard is within his powers under the authority of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Trump’s proclamation accused Harvard of developing “extensive entanglements” with foreign countries and continuing to “flout the civil rights of its students and faculty”.
“Considering these facts, 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,” he said.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that this comes as Trump’s administration accused Harvard of failing to provide sufficient information to the DHS about “foreign students’ known illegal or dangerous activities” and reported “deficient data on only three students”.
Before the proclamation on foreign student visas at Harvard, Trump’s administration had frozen billions of dollars of federal funding and accused the institution of failing to root out antisemitism on campus.
Last month, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem revoked certification Harvard needed to enroll foreign students on campus, a move that was swiftly blocked by a judge.
Another federal judge upheld that decision last Thursday, saying she would issue a longer-term hold that would allow international students to continue their studies at Harvard while the legal battle plays out.
However, Wednesday’s proclamation once again throws the futures of thousands of international students into limbo.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass also reported on Wednesday that Fatou Wurie, a Sierra Leonean doctoral candidate at Harvard University is facing an uncertain future due to Trump’s visa policies on international students.
Wurie’s dream of completing her PhD and advancing women’s health research in Sierra Leone hangs in the balance after spending over $200,000 to fund her studies on the impact of uterine fibroids on Sierra Leonean women.
