An ultimatum for Harvard: Provide info on foreign students or lose them
Today is the deadline for Harvard University to respond to the Department of Homeland Security after receiving a April 16 letter to respond to a list of demands .
Harvard is faced with an ultimatum: it could refuse to respond to its demands and lose a key certification allowing international students to study there — 27% of its undergraduate and graduate population — or give up information about its foreign student population.
If the federal government revokes the certification, Harvard could go to federal court to ask for an injunction to temporarily keep it.
Harvard has already filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration following its threat to pull billions of dollars in funding or respond to another list of demands. Those demands called for an overhaul of the institution, including changes to government and leadership and to the university's admissions policies.
"It's one of our premier institutions in the United States. If Harvard caves, others will cave. And we could kiss goodbye the independent higher education system we have in the United States. It's gone if Harvard caves. This is that kind of moment," said Charles Kuck, former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
The Department of Homeland Security's demands included providing information about student visa holders' known illegal activity, threats and dangerous or violent activity. It also requested that the institution provide any information if the students obstructed the learning environment and if they are completing the minimum required coursework to "maintain nonimmigrant student status."
By responding to the demands, it would likely put foreign students at Harvard in jeopardy, according to Kuck.
It could lead to the students being arrested, such as Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk or Mahmoud Khalil , a lawful U.S. resident who was a graduate student at Columbia until December.
"They're going to go after those people 100%. This is like watching 'V for Vendetta.' This time V is a bad guy. This is all about vengeance. It's all about punishing people for exercising and following their conscious and their constitutional rights, including foreign students," Kuck said.
Following the communication from DHS, Harvard told admitted international students that they could accept admission at Harvard and at a foreign institution as a "backup plan" due to "recent events" in the U.S. and at Harvard, according to the Harvard email.
What is being asked of Harvard?
In a letter to Harvard last week, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said having foreign students attend Harvard is a "privilege" and "not a guarantee."
Noem directed Harvard to submit eight pieces of information to the department on or before April 30, 2025. They include:
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Provide relevant information regarding each student visa holder's known illegal activity, and whether the activity occurred on campus.
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Provide relevant information regarding each student visa holder's known dangerous or violent activity, and whether the activity occurred on campus.
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Provide relevant information regarding each student visa holder's known threats to other students or university personnel, and whether the activity occurred on campus.
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Provide relevant information regarding each student visa holder's known deprivation of rights of other classmates or university personnel, and whether the activity occurred on campus.
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Provide relevant information on whether any student visa holders have left Harvard University due to dangerous or violent activity or deprivation of rights, and whether the activity occurred on campus.
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Provide relevant information on whether any student visa holders have had disciplinary actions taken as a result of making threats to other students or populations or participating in protests, which impacted their nonimmigrant student status.
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Provide relevant information regarding each student visa holder's obstruction of the school's learning environment.
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Provide relevant information regarding each student visa holder's maintenance of at least the minimum required coursework to maintain nonimmigrant student status.
If Harvard doesn't comply with the request, Noem said it will "be treated as a voluntary withdrawal" and the SEVP certification will be automatically taken away from Harvard without subject to appeal.
Does Harvard have a good case?
Whether the federal government can revoke Harvard's certification to host international students is up for debate.
Specific regulations give the federal government leeway to determine if an institution — in this case, Harvard — is not complying with certification standards, said Jonathan Grode, managing partner at immigration law firm Green and Spiegel.
"Whether or not they're an overreach, a misinterpretation, these are things that the courts would decide," Grode said.
In a "normal world" there wouldn't be a chance that Harvard would lose its certification, given its global prominence and because it isn't frequently taken away, and, when it has, it is due to some sort of fraudulent activity.
To Kuck, the Trump administration has a weak case, in part because it isn't going through the right legal steps.
He said the federal government is asking for information that isn't pertinent to the certification to host international students.
"The questions they're asking have nothing to do with the certification of the program," Kuck said.
"The government cannot act in an arbitrary and capricious way. This is the very definition of arbitrary and capricious," Kuck said.
The worst-case scenario for Harvard, if it does go through legal proceedings over the demands, is that they lose in court "years from now," Kuck said. At that point, Trump won't be president and the next president could reinstate the certification for Harvard, he said.
"That's the worst case scenario, but they'll be heroes," he said.
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Read the original article on MassLive .
