US threatens to strip Harvard’s ability to host international students

ISTANBUL

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Wednesday threatened to revoke Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students if it does not hand over detailed records on some international students.

“Harvard bending the knee to antisemitism—driven by its spineless leadership—fuels a cesspool of extremist riots and threatens our national security,” said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in a statement.

“With anti-American, pro-Hamas ideology poisoning its campus and classrooms, Harvard’s position as a top institution of higher learning is a distant memory,” she added.

She gave Harvard until April 30 to share “detailed records on Harvard’s foreign student visa holders’ illegal and violent activities.” If it does not comply, she warned, the university would “face immediate loss of Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification.”

SEVP certification allows US universities to issue documents enabling international students to apply for visas, according to the DHS.

Harvard has 6,793 international students, making up 27.2% of its enrollment for the 2024–25 academic year, according to the university.

Noem's warning came after the Trump administration withdrew more than $2.2 billion in federal funding from Harvard on Monday after it refused to implement government-mandated policy reforms.

Among other changes, the administration has called on the university to scrap its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and to block admissions of international students deemed “hostile to American values… including students supportive of terrorism or antisemitism.”

Defending the funding freeze, the Trump administration said universities must uphold civil rights laws and stop the harassment of Jewish students, without providing any examples.

A federal task force warned that it is “time for elite universities to take the problem seriously.”

Trump also threatened Tuesday to remove Harvard's tax-exempt status.

The administration has also moved to revoke the visas of more than 525 students, faculty, and researchers at over 80 US institutions, citing offenses ranging from alleged support for terror organizations to years-old misdemeanors.

Earlier this week, US immigration officials arrested Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi, a key organizer of pro-Palestine demonstrations.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Mahdawi’s activism “could undermine the Middle East peace process by reinforcing antisemitic sentiment,” according to the New York Times.

Mahdawi received his Green Card, granting him permanent residency, in 2015.