The Department of Homeland Security is threatening to remove Harvard University‘s ability to enroll foreign students if it does not give the agency information about its “foreign student visa holders’ illegal and violent activities.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sent a letter to Harvard officials warning that if the school did not send over the requested records by April 30, it would lose its Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification. The department also announced it had canceled two DHS grants totaling $2.7 million in a news release Wednesday.
“Harvard bending the knee to antisemitism — driven by its spineless leadership — fuels a cesspool of extremist riots and threatens our national security,” Noem said in a statement.
“With anti-American, pro-Hamas ideology poisoning its campus and classrooms, Harvard’s position as a top institution of higher learning is a distant memory. America demands more from universities entrusted with taxpayer dollars,” she added.
The actions the DHS announced are the latest in the Trump administration’s crackdown on Ivy League institutions over their alleged mishandling of anti-Israel protests in recent years, which, in many cases, have spiraled into violence and antisemitism.
The administration sent Harvard officials a proposal that it said would address antisemitism within the school and eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. However, the university rejected the demands with a sharp statement from President Alan Garber.
“The administration’s prescription goes beyond the power of the federal government. It violates Harvard’s First Amendment rights and exceeds the statutory limits of the government’s authority under Title VI. And it threatens our values as a private institution devoted to the pursuit, production, and dissemination of knowledge,” the statement said.
TRUMP FLOATS REMOVING HARVARD’S TAX-EXEMPT STATUS IN FEUD OVER CAMPUS POLICIES
“No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,” Garber continued.
Since Harvard’s rejection of the Trump administration’s agreement, President Donald Trump has floated removing the university’s tax-exempt status and asked on Truth Social if the school should lose it “if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting ‘Sickness?'”
