A federal court in Boston has suspended US President Donald Trump’s executive order banning foreign students and researchers from Harvard University from entering the country. The court ruled that the ban would cause “immediate and irreparable harm” to the university, US media reported.
The decision was made after Harvard filed a lawsuit challenging an earlier administration order restricting the admission of foreign students. A court in Boston had already imposed a temporary ban on its enforcement, and a hearing on the new case is scheduled for June 16.
The ruling stated that Harvard’s leadership had proven that without a temporary ban on the enforcement of the June 4, 2025 order, the institution would suffer “immediate and irreparable harm.”
Donald Trump claimed that the university’s refusal to provide data on “illegal behaviour” by foreign students posed a threat to national security.
In May, the administration also revoked Harvard’s right to sponsor visas. Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin called the court ruling an attempt to undermine the constitutional authority of the president and said that “educating foreigners is a privilege, not a right of universities.” According to her, the Trump administration “intends to restore common sense to the visa system and expects to prevail on appeal.”
In May, the Trump administration dealt a surprise blow to Harvard University by banning it from accepting foreign students and graduate students. Foreigners already studying at Harvard must transfer to other universities or leave the United States, regardless of their payment status or scholarships.
Earlier, Trump signed an executive order banning travel to the United States for citizens of 12 countries and imposing restrictions on citizens of seven more countries.
