Trump administration asks to dismiss Harvard suit over foreign students

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration asked a federal judge to throw out Harvard University’s lawsuit over a proposed ban on international students, saying the president has broad authority to issue rules restricting the entry of non-citizens into the country.

The Justice Department said in a court filing in Boston on Aug 8 that Harvard does not have the legal right to challenge the restrictions. 

The dispute involves Harvard’s certification with the Student Exchange and Visitor Programme – a requirement for any university to enrol international students. In June, US President Donald Trump signed an executive action that prevents foreign nationals from entering the US to study at Harvard, accusing the school of failing to implement discipline on campus and fostering a dramatic rise in crime.

Mr Trump has made Harvard the main target of his effort to force universities to reshape higher education by cracking down on alleged anti-Semitism, removing perceived political bias among the faculty and eliminating diversity programmes.

Judge Allison Burroughs is expected to rule soon in another dispute over whether the government can terminate more than US$2 billion (S$2.57 billion) in federal research funding for the school.

Harvard sued the administration over the international students in May, arguing that the enrolment ban violates its due process rights and fails to follow federal regulations. 

Judge Burroughs, who is overseeing multiple lawsuits between the school and the Trump administration, granted the university’s request for a preliminary injunction blocking the policy, and then issued another order saying the government cannot enforce Mr Trump’s ban on its international students entering the US.

The Harvard lawsuit related to foreign students addresses both sections of the Trump policy.

Compliance with the programme “is an important requirement for hosting foreign student visa holders to ensure they are adequately monitored, disciplined and reported on”, the US said in the filing.

“Harvard was not complying with its obligations. This raised serious national security and public safety concerns, of which the President’s determination is due the utmost deference.”

A Harvard spokesperson said that the government’s motion on Aug 8 has has no impact on the school’s ability to enrol international students.

“The university will continue to defend its rights – and the rights of its students and scholars,” the spokesperson said.

The Justice Department did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

The Trump administration has been trying for months to stop foreign students from enrolling at Harvard, one of several levers that could hurt the university’s finances. In the last academic year, 27 per cent of Harvard students came from abroad.

Ivy League settlements

Harvard, the oldest and richest US college with an endowment of US$53 billion, and the government have been negotiating towards a global settlement, but have yet to come to a deal. Harvard’s Ivy League peers the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia and Brown have reached agreements in recent weeks.

The White House views a payment of US$500 million by Harvard University as a floor in negotiations, and the cost of a deal could climb far higher if the school does not submit to government oversight provisions, according to people with knowledge of the matter. 

Justice Department lawyers said earlier this week that the US would no longer rely on a May 22 letter by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to justify the near-immediate ban on foreign students it sought, but plans to move forward through an administrative process to “simplify this case and narrow the issues”. BLOOMBERG