Harvard University Row: Judge Blocks Trump’s Effort To Ban Foreign Studentsp

In a twist to the Trump administration’s attempt to ban Harvard University from enrolling foreign students, a US federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the government from doing the same. This came just hours after the lawsuit was filed by the elite college against the Trump administration over its abrupt ban the day before. 

Judge  Allison Burroughs in Boston issued the temporary restraining order late on Friday, as per international media reports. This restraining order freezes  Trump’s policy imposed abruptly on the university.

Harvard’s Lawsuit

Harvard University termed  Trump’s move as unconstitutional retaliation, for it has previously defied the political demands made by the  White House.

In its lawsuit, Harvard stated that the government’s action violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution, as well as invite immediate and devastating effects for the prestigious university, along with more than 7,000 visa holders.

“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the university and its mission”—the Harvard lawsuit was reported in international media to have said.

The White House, on the other hand, has ridiculed Harvard’s lawsuit as frivolous.  The university’s court filing said that without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.
Harvard University is a 389-year-old elite and private university, which is apparently the oldest and wealthiest in the US. It enrols almost 6,800 foreign students at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from more than 100 countries across the world.

Trump’s Comments On Harvard

Trump said that many international students are troublemakers who can’t do basic math in his statement to the media. 

“The students can’t add two and two, and they go to Harvard. … How do they get into Harvard? Why are they there?” Trump was quoted to have saying to reporters at an event on nuclear energy at the White House. 
“And then you see those same people picketing and screaming at the United States and screaming at, you know, they’re antisemitic or they’re something. We don’t want troublemakers here,”—Trump was quoted as saying in international media.

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