Harvard University has been flooded with foreign students requests to transfer to other institutions, since the administration of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, seeks to prohibit him from organizing international academics, a staff member said Wednesday.
“Too many international students to tell have asked about the possibility of transferring to another institution,” wrote Maureen Martin, director of immigration services, in a judicial presentation.
Trump has overturned the reputation of the United States among foreign students, who add up to one million, while pressing a campaign against US universities that he sees how to obstruct his populist agenda of “Make America Great Again.”
He has blocked Harvard to organize international academics in a maneuver that is legally challenged, non -citizen campus activists for deportation, and more recently suspended the processing of student visas in all areas.
The president’s repression has caused “deep fear, concern and confusion” between students and the staff of the Elite University, which has been “flooded with questions from current international students and academics about their state and options,” Martin wrote.
According to university data, more than 27 percent of Harvard’s registration was composed of foreign students in academic year 2024-25, according to university data.
“Many international students and academics report significant emotional anguish that is affecting their mental health and makes it difficult to focus on their studies,” Martin wrote in the presentation.
Some were afraid to attend their graduation ceremonies this week or had canceled travel plans for fear of re -entry with the United States, he added.
She said that a handful of national students in Harvard had also “expressed severe interest” in the transfer elsewhere because they did not want to attend a university without international students.
Last week, a judge suspended the government’s move to prevent Harvard from registering and organizing foreign students after the Ivy League school demanded, calling unconstitutional action.
A hearing on the case was scheduled for Thursday.
At least 10 foreign students or academics in Harvard made their rejected visa requests immediately after the foreign student block was announced, including students whose visa requests had already been approved, Martin wrote.
“My current understanding is that visa requests that were rejected or revoked after the revocation notice have not yet been approved or restored,” despite the fact that a judge suspended the measure, he said.
