Trump signs proclamation restricting student visas for foreign students planning to study at Harvard

Trump says US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will make a decision on whether or not Harvard’s almost seven thousand currently enrolled foreign students will be able to keep their visas.

US President Donald Trump is moving to block nearly all foreign students from entering the country to attend Harvard University. The move is the latest attack of the incumbent administration against the US’ oldest and wealthiest university.This latest attempt seeks to choke the Ivy League school from an international pipeline that accounts for a quarter of the student body.In an executive order signed on Wednesday, Trump declared that it would jeopardise national security to allow Harvard to continue hosting foreign students on its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.“I have determined that the entry of the class of foreign nationals described above is detrimental to the interests of the United States because, in my judgment, Harvard’s conduct has rendered it an unsuitable destination for foreign students and researchers,” Trump wrote in the order.It’s a further escalation in the White House’s feud with the university. A federal court blocked the Department of Homeland Security from barring international students at Harvard last week. Trump’s new order however invokes a different legal authority.Trump invoked a broad federal law that gives the president authority to block foreigners whose entry would be “detrimental to the interests of the United States.”He used the same authority when announcing that citizens of 12 countries would be banned from visiting the US and those from seven others would face restrictions, in what some are calling a resurrection of his infamous first term’s “Muslim ban”.Trump’s Harvard order cites several other laws, too, including one barring foreigners associated with terrorist organisations.In a statement on Wednesday night, Harvard said it will continue to protect its international students. “This is yet another illegal retaliatory step taken by the Administration in violation of Harvard’s First Amendment rights,” university officials said.The feud stems from Harvard’s refusal to submit to a series of demands made by the federal government. It has escalated recently after the Department of Homeland Security said the Ivy League school refused to provide records related to misconduct by foreign students.Harvard says it has complied with the request, but the White House snapped back saying the school's response was insufficient.The dispute has been building for months after the Trump administration demanded a series of policy and governance changes at Harvard, calling it a “hotbed of liberalism” and accusing it of tolerating anti-Jewish harassment.Harvard defied the demands, saying they violated the university’s autonomy and represented a threat to the freedom of all US universities and higher education institutions.For foreign students already at Harvard – around 6,800 currently enrolled – Trump says US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will determine whether or not their visas should be revoked.The new order is scheduled to last six months. The Trump administration also reserves the right to renew the order, and will make a decision on the matter within 90 days.