Trump Issues Proclamation to ‘Address Risks at Harvard University’
Published by The Lawfare Institute
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On June 4, President Trump issued a proclamtion entitled “Enhancing National Security by Addressing Risks at Harvard University.” The proclamtion restricts “the entry of foreign nationals who seek to enter the United States solely or principally to participate in a course of study at Harvard University or in an exchange visitor program hosted by Harvard University.”
Trump’s proclamation asserts that foreign adversaries—specifically the People’s Republic of China—have exploited the federal Student Exchange Visa Program (SEVP) to, “among other things, steal technical information and products, exploit expensive research and development to advance their own ambitions, and spread false information for political or other reasons.”
According to Trump, Harvard University refused to meaningfully comply with various Department of Homeland Security requests for information and data about foreign students’ “known illegal activity,” “known dangerous and violent activity,” “known threats to other students or university personnel,” “known deprivation of rights of other classmates or university personnel,” and more. Trump’s proclamation also asserts that Harvard has “developed extensive” financial and social “entanglements with foreign countries, including our adversaries,” and that the university has continued to discriminate against “disfavored races” in admissions despite the Supreme Court’s ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.
The proclamation states that suspension and limitation on entry applies to immigrants who—beginning on June 4—“enter or attempt to enter” the United States through the SEVP program to attend Harvard University. The proclamation also advises the secretary of state, at his discretion, to determine whether current foreign students at Harvard are subject to visa revocation.
Read the executive order here or below:
