Harvard fights DHS attempt to restore foreign student ban

Filed 2h ago · Via Courthouse News · The Buffoon Desk

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Fiddles McGinty

Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: Roc0ast3r · CC0 · via Wikimedia Commons

A First Circuit panel heard arguments Tuesday over the Trump administration's bid to reinstate its short-lived ban on Harvard's international student program, which DHS imposed after then-Secretary Kristi Noem cited the university's handling of pro-Palestinian protests and its refusal to supply certain student data. A federal judge blocked the measure a day after DHS issued it.

Harvard's attorney, Paul Clement, argued the administration misused an externally focused immigration power to target a domestic institution, noting the proclamation's title refers to Harvard by name. Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson pushed back on DHS's attorney, observing the rule bars entry to Harvard specifically rather than regulating immigration generally.

Both sides agreed the case isn't moot despite the original proclamation having expired, with Clement warning that letting the injunction stand is the only thing preventing a repeat. The DHS attorney acknowledged he couldn't rule out the administration trying a similar measure again.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

Titling your proclamation 'Addressing Risks at Harvard' and then arguing in court it's facially neutral is the kind of move that only works if nobody in the room can read. The judges noticed, which is reassuring, though it shouldn't take three circuit judges and a former solicitor general to point out that banning foreign students specifically from one university isn't exactly a border policy. This is less a legal strategy than a grudge wearing a legal strategy's coat.

Source: Read the original at Courthouse News → Scored: Fiddles McGinty · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

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