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Trump administration gives Harvard 30-day respite amid foreign student row
The Trump administration has given Harvard University 30 days to challenge the revocation of their ability to enroll international students.
The acting director of the US immigration agency, ICE, has given Harvard University 30 days to achieve compliance to keep its SEVP certification, which would allow it to continue enrolling foreign students, reported Reuters.
The letter from the acting director of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency notified the school that its Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification is liable to be revoked, however, they are being given 30 days to comply with rules that would let them keep their certification.
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“Your school has 30 calendar days from the date of service of this Notice to submit written representations under oath and supported by documentary evidence, setting forth the reasons why SEVP should not withdraw your school's certification. If SEVP certification is withdrawn, your school will then no longer be approved to enroll or continue to educate nonimmigrant students,” the notice said.
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Harvard to challenge revocation
The notice comes one week after the US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced she had ordered the termination of Harvard University’s SEVP certification.
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Noem, in her letter, accused the university of "fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party."
Harvard University has challenged the government's revocation, and a federal hearing on the issue is due to be held on Thursday morning, just after the school held its commencement ceremony on Wednesday.
Harvard has argued that the students have become “pawns in the government's escalating campaign of retaliation," with a federal judge last week granting them a temporary order that barred the Trump administration from revoking the school's SEVP certification.
Harvard enrolled nearly 6,800 international students in its current school year, with them counting for almost 27 per cent of its total enrollment, reported Reuters.
