Judge extends block on Trump's plan to ban foreign students from Harvard University

Last week, a judge temporarily blocked Donald Trump’s attempt to ban Harvard University from enrolling international students.

Now, the “broad” injunction issued by Massachusetts District Judge Allison Burroughs is set to be extended in a hearing on Thursday, it has emerged.

It prevents government officials from trying to block Harvard from keeping foreign students on campus.

The legal action comes after the federal government revoked Harvard's certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) and stripped the University of its authority to sponsor F- and J- visas for international students.

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In a statement, Harvard's President Alan M. Garber said: "The revocation continues a series of government actions to retaliate against Harvard for our refusal to surrender our academic independence and to submit to the federal government’s illegal assertion of control over our curriculum, our faculty, and our student body."

The statement condemned the "unlawful and unwarranted action", and added: "We have just filed a complaint, and a motion for a temporary restraining order will follow. As we pursue legal remedies, we will do everything in our power to support our students and scholars."

Harvard enrols almost 6,800 foreign students at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Most are graduate students and they come from more than 100 countries.

Trump's move sees a continuation of the president's war on elite universities, after he accused them of anti-Semitism and blasted their "woke" ideology.

On Wednesday night, he suggested limiting its foreign students intake rather than an all out ban.

"I think they should have a cap of maybe around 15%,' he said in the Oval Office.

"We have people who want to go to Harvard and other schools. They can't get in because we have foreign students there," he added.

He claimed his plan would make Harvard "great again", a referrence to his infamous Make America Great Again slogan used in his presidential campaigns.

"'I'm looking out for the country, and for Harvard, I want Harvard to do well, to be great again," he said.

Meanwhile, other US universities also appear to be at risk after Trump ordered US embassies to halt all student visa applications.

Officials have been told to stop scheduling appointments with student visa applicants by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

A new expanded social media vetting process is currently being prepared by the Trump administration and is likely to be implemented in the near future.

In the academic year of 2023-2024, the Institute of International Education Open Doors found that the United States hosted a record-breaking 1.1 million international students.