OAN Staff Abril Elfi
1:46 PM – Thursday, May 22, 2025
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that they will be eliminating the student visa program at Harvard University — due to the school’s “pro-terrorist conduct” at campus protests.
According to a report from Fox News Digital, the DHS will be eliminating the program as a “consequence” for the school’s refusal to comply with requests for behavioral records of student visa holders, in addition to the school’s lack of effort in combating antisemitism on campus.
“This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,” said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. “It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments. Harvard had plenty of opportunity to do the right thing. It refused. They have lost their Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law. Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.”
Advertisement
Additionally, Harvard may no longer accept foreign students for the 2025-2026 school year, and current foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status to remain in the United States before the next academic year begins.
“As a result of your brazen refusal to comply with multiple requests to provide the Department of Homeland Security pertinent information while perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas rhetoric, and employs racist ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ policies, you have lost this privilege,” Noem wrote in a letter to Maureen Martin, the university’s director of immigration services.
The DHS secretary offered Harvard 72 hours to provide the information requested for an opportunity to regain its visa program for the next school year. She went on to call the move the “direct result of Harvard’s epic failure to comply with simple reporting requirements.”
The information includes any video footage of protest activities involving students on visas, as well as all students’ disciplinary records from the previous five years.
Noem stated last month that she had requested records on visa-holding students enrolled at the university, and Harvard’s counsel did not offer sufficient material to meet the demand. After the DHS general counsel requested the material again, Harvard supplied a “insufficient, incomplete, and unacceptable response.”
“Consequences must follow to send a clear signal to Harvard and all universities that want to enjoy the privilege of enrolling foreign students, that the Trump administration will enforce the law and root out the evils of antisemitism in society and campuses,” said Noem.
Requested data also include film or other forms of documentation of illegal, harmful, or violent activities by student visa holders — as well as any recordings of threats or violations of the rights of other students or university workers.
Last month, Harvard declared that it would enable foreign students to accept admission to both Harvard and a foreign university as a backup, despite the Trump administration’s threats to revoke Harvard’s permission to host them.
Typically, students must accept admission to Harvard by May 1st and they cannot commit to another university.
At least a dozen Harvard students’ study permits in the United States have been withdrawn due to campus protests.
Stay informed! Receive breaking news alerts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts