The Department of Homeland Security says it will subpoena Harvard University for records related to its international students.
Secretary Kristi Noem has demanded the Ivy League school turn over any information that might implicate foreign students in violence or protests that could lead to their deportation. Harvard has said it provided “thousands of data points,” but Noem said the school failed to satisfy her request.
“Harvard is committed to following the law, and while the government’s subpoenas are unwarranted, the University will continue to cooperate with lawful requests and obligations,” Jason Newton, Harvard’s director of media relations and communications, told GBH News in an emailed statement. “The administration’s ongoing retaliatory actions come as Harvard continues to defend itself and its students, faculty, and staff against harmful government overreach aimed at dictating whom private universities can admit and hire, and what they can teach.”
He said the university remains “unwavering” in its efforts to protect its community against “unfounded retribution by the federal government.”
The Trump administration has moved to block Harvard’s ability to host international students as it presses the school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to accept its demands for changes to its policies and governance. A federal judge has put those efforts on hold as a lawsuit plays out.
The university also has a hearing date scheduled for July 21 for its federal funding lawsuit. In that case, Harvard is asking a federal judge to overturn the administration’s effort to free and terminate billions of federal research funds to the university.
“The Trump administration is pursuing an all out war right now against Harvard University. And they are using international students essentially as poker chips in this battle,” said Leo Gerdén, a recently graduated international student from Sweden. He studied economics and government, and will soon pursue a masters’ degree in China.
He said the Trump administration wants to dictate what is said, what professors can be fired, and what classes are taken. “In his effort to do just that, he is using us in a very dehumanizing way— requesting information threatening to deport all of us,” said Gerdén.
The atmosphere on campus was one of tension and fear recently, he said, especially for students who aren’t sure if they will be allowed for their next semester, or if they’d have to leave the US mid-semester due to changing immigration policies.
“Now more than ever, we need Harvard to fight for us,” Gerdén added.
