On April 16, the Trump administration threatened to revoke Harvard University’s certification to enroll international students unless the institution sends detailed disciplinary records on student visa holders. The Department of Homeland Security also requested information on the “maintenance of at least the minimum required coursework to maintain nonimmigrant student status.” This follows President Trump’s threat to freeze $2.2 billion in federal research grants earlier this week.
In a letter sent to the Harvard administration, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem cited concerns over the treatment of Jewish students—a growing concern of the federal executive branch. “[Your] institution has created a hostile learning environment for Jewish students due to Harvard’s failure to condemn antisemitism,” she wrote. “It is a privilege to have foreign students attend Harvard University, not a guarantee.”
According to Noem, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program monitors all SEVP-approved schools to ensure compliance with government regulations and the validity of data included in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System for such institutions. “[Harvard’s] continued SEVP certification is contingent upon meeting the requirements of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security set out in Title 8 Code of Federal Regulations.” Harvard must submit all DHS-requested information regarding nonimmigrant students on or before April 30 to maintain eligibility.
Students and faculty have joined in responding to executive pressure on higher education through a protest in Harvard Yard. Under the headline “Harvard Stands Together,” University affiliates gathered on the afternoon of April 17 in Harvard Yard to protest the Trump administration and show support for international students. According to Ezekiel Wells ’27 from Harvard Students for Freedom, the demonstration was officially organized by University faculty, while Harvard Students for Freedom encouraged student speeches and attendance.
“I am here on behalf of alumni of Harvard, here and across the world…We’re here to support the students, the faculty, and all of the staff who are here. We’re also here to support the Harvard community around the world and those who are part of our institution,” Anurima Bhargava ’96, Founder and President of Anthem of Us, said to the crowd.
“We know that freedom includes being able to make a choice without a gun to our heads,” said Nikolas Bowie, Louis D. Brandeis Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, during his speech at the demonstration. “But even if that gun is pointed in a different direction, or pointed at someone more vulnerable than us, we are still not free.”
“It is when we all have the capacity to decide how we can flourish together, how we can teach and learn from one another, how we can pursue truth together, and how we can thrive without anyone being able to exercise arbitrary and uncontrolled power over us. That is freedom… No one in this institution can thrive in the absence of freedom,” Bowie continued.
The University has a higher percentage of enrolled international students than the average American higher education institution—27.2% as of the 2024-2025 academic year. The College specifically was included among the top 20 American institutions with the highest number of enrolled nonimmigrant undergraduates.
In speeches to the crowd, Harvard students emphasized unity between domestic and international students.
“Today, they are coming for some. And tomorrow, when they come for the rest, we need to be together. We cannot, at any cost, leave anyone behind,” said Abdullah Shahid Sial ’27, the recently elected Harvard Undergraduate Association co-president and a speaker from Harvard Students for Freedom.
“We are not going to turn this into an us-versus-them, and we sure as hell are not going to turn on our fellow Harvard students. When we band together and we show that Harvard—both Americans and internationals—are banded together and united, that is the day that we win,” Wells added.
Inside Higher Education has been tracking visa revocations of overseas students since the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20. As of April 17, over 210 American higher education institutions have reported over 1,400 nonimmigrant enrollees experiencing legal status changes by the State Department.
“We are learning in real time what it looks like to live in a government without democracy, when one man can exercise the power to arbitrarily discipline us, when the acceptable ideas of what can be said, or taught, or studied is handed down from on high and without due process,” Bowie stated. “We are learning that for the same reasons, we must have democracy in the United States, we also must have democracy at Harvard University.”
“It’s an attack on higher education. It’s much bigger than us. It’s much bigger than just international students, and they’re coming for us right now, they’re coming for more students afterwards.” Sial told the Independent. “If one community member is targeted, it’s a target with all of us, and we’ll stand with all of them.”
In an interview with the Independent, Wells asserted that Trump’s recent announcement cannot be understood as a targeted event. “This goes beyond just one demographic, and it has to do with all of Harvard really coming together and sending a message to the Trump administration saying: no, you’re not going to infringe on our freedoms.”
Written by the News Staff of the Harvard Independent.