State Department announces investigation into Harvard international visas
** This article has been updated on July 23, 2025, at 1:25 p.m. to include a comment from a Harvard spokesperson.
The State Department has opened an investigation into Harvard University’s use of international visas, according to an announcement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rubio said all sponsors of the government’s Exchange Visitor Program must “fully comply” with the “exchange visitor regulations, transparency in reporting, and a demonstrated commitment to fostering the principles of cultural exchange and mutual understanding upon which the program was founded.”
The program is intended for foreign citizens who wish to enter the United States. It can used by anyone from a student to a professor to an au pair, according to its website .
In doing so, the sponsoring institution must not conduct their programs “in a manner that does not undermine the foreign policy objectives or compromise the national security interests of the United States.”
“The American people have the right to expect their universities to uphold national security, comply with the law, and provide safe environments for all students,” Rubio said. “The investigation will ensure that State Department programs do not run contrary to our nation’s interests.”
A Harvard spokesperson said the investigation is “yet another retaliatory step” taken by the administration, which violates their First Amendment rights.
“Harvard continues to enroll and sponsor international scholars, researchers and students, and will protect its international community and support them as they apply for U.S. visas and travel to campus this fall,” the spokesperson said.
The announcement comes amid talks of a deal between Harvard and the Trump administration, and as two lawsuits take shape in federal court.
One of the lawsuits focuses on the Trump administration’s attacks on international students, including its revocation of a key certification that allows Harvard’s international students to study there.
What has happened between the Trump admin and Harvard?
The Trump administration has gone after Harvard since April, cutting billions of dollars.
Demanding an overhaul of Harvard’s leadership structure, admissions and hiring, the federal government warned the school could risk losing $9 billion in funding.
Harvard rejected those demands, stating the government seeks to “invade university freedoms long recognized by the Supreme Court.”
Then the fight over funding began.
It started with a $2.2 billion funding freeze on April 14 after the school refused to comply with the federal administration’s demands.
In response, Harvard filed a lawsuit on April 21, arguing that its constitutional rights had been violated by the government’s threats to pull billions of dollars in funding.
Harvard President Alan Garber also signed onto a letter with hundreds of other university presidents pushing back against “government overreach and political interference” by the Trump administration.
At the beginning of May, the Trump administration said it would bar Harvard University from acquiring new federal grants while the school continues to refuse to comply with the administration’s demands for change on its campus.
A few days later, eight federal agencies cut $450 million in grants and then the United States Department of Health and Human Services cut $60 million in grants from the university.
Harvard went on to amend its lawsuit against the Trump administration.
On May 16, a wave of nearly one thousand federal research grant terminations began , amounting to more than $2.4 billion, according to an analysis by Nature .
In response, Harvard established a new Presidential Priorities Fund, asking for donations in the midst of federal cuts.
Some of Harvard’s schools, including its School of Public Health, took to social media to ask for donations after nearly every single federal grant had been terminated.
Other investigations and threats have been made against the institution, some of which have also focused on threatening the university’s ability to enroll international students.
That is the university’s second lawsuit .
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Read the original article on MassLive .
