President Donald Trump’s recent effort to deny Harvard University the opportunity to host hundreds of overseas students on campus was stopped indefinitely by a federal judge on Monday.
According to Judge Allison Burroughs of the US District Court in Massachusetts, Trump’s latest presidential proclamation violated the university’s constitutional rights and was a component of the administration’s retaliatory campaign.
The White House said that since Harvard was failing to adequately screen new international scholars, the ban on foreign students travelling to the US to attend Harvard was made for national security reasons. However, Burroughs used the occasion to describe how she responded to the administration’s persistent efforts to reduce Harvard’s student body and teaching methodology.
Freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and freedom of thought are fundamental constitutional rights that must be protected because they are essential safeguards against authoritarianism and a cornerstone of a functioning democracy,” Burroughs said in a 44-page judgement on Monday.
The judge delayed an earlier attempt by the Trump administrations of Homeland Security and State to terminate Harvard’s student visa program, which would have impacted around 25% of its student population and forced students to transfer or leave the country.
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