The Trump administration on Thursday revoked Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students due to “pro-terrorist conduct” at campus protests.
The Department of Homeland Security notified the university about its decision amid a fight over Harvard’s behavioral records of student visa holders. The administration has requested that the university turn over the records, while Harvard has failed to comply.
“This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.
“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 added. “Harvard had plenty of opportunity to do the right thing. It refused. They have lost their Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law. Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.”
The decision means Harvard can not enroll foreign students for the next school year, and will also require existing foreign students to transfer, or lose their legal status to reside in the U.S. before the academic year begins.
Noem first demanded that Harvard provide information about the “criminality and misconduct” of foreign students on its campus on April 16. She warned at the time that refusal to comply would result in the termination of the university’s visa program.
The requested records include footage of protest activity involving students on visas and the disciplinary records of all students on visas over the last five years. The administration has also requested any footage or documentation of illegal, dangerous or violent activity by student visa holders and any records of threats or the deprivation of rights of other students or university personnel.
In a letter to the university obtained by Fox News, Noem reportedly gave Harvard 72 hours to provide the information requested in order to reinstate its visa program.
Harvard announced last month that it would allow foreign students to accept admission to Harvard and a foreign university as a backup amid the administration’s threats over its visa program.
The move is the latest in a bitter battle between Harvard and the Trump administration, which last month terminated $2.7 million in DHS grants for the university.