US President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday revoked Harvard University’s ability to enrol foreign students, pushing the future of thousands of Indian and other international students into uncertainty. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has given the Ivy League institution 72 hours to provide the required information and asked it to comply with six stringent conditions if it wishes to enrol foreign students again.
With its Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification suspended, Harvard is currently barred from admitting students on F-1 or J-1 visas. This decision will impact roughly 6,800 international students, representing about 25% of the university’s total enrollment. The figure includes approximately 800 students from India.
The students affected by this move are now left with two choices: transfer to another SEVP-certified institution or face deportation due to loss of legal immigration status.
The Trump administration, which has recently clashed with Harvard over allegations of “campus antisemitism,” has indicated that reinstatement of the university’s ability to enrol international students is possible only if Harvard submits the required documentation within the specified timeframe.
Here are the six conditions stated by the Trump administration:
1. All records, whether official or informal, in the possession of Harvard University, including electronic records and audio or video footage, regarding illegal activity, whether on or off campus, by a non-immigrant student in the last five years.
2. All records in the possession of Harvard University, including electronic records and audio or video footage, regarding dangerous or violent activity, whether on or off campus, by a non-immigrant student in the last five years.
3. All records in the possession of Harvard University, including electronic records and audio or video footage, regarding threats to other students or university personnel, whether on or off campus, by a non-immigrant student in the last five years.
4. All records in the possession of Harvard University, including electronic records and audio or video footage, regarding deprivation of rights of other classmates or university personnel, whether on or off campus, by a non-immigrant student enrolled in the last five years.
5. Any and all disciplinary records of all non-immigrant students enrolled in the last five years.
6. All audio or video footage in the possession of Harvard University of any protest activity involving a non-immigrant student on a Harvard University campus in the last five years.
