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Harvard seeking injunction against foreign student ban

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Judge had issued temporary order ahead of Thursday hearing

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Harvard claims its First Amendment rights were violated

(Adds DHS notice to Harvard, paragraphs 1-5)

By Nate Raymond

BOSTON, May 29 (Reuters) - The Trump administration

signaled on Thursday it might back away from plans to

immediately revoke Harvard University's ability to enroll

international students and would instead pursue a lengthier

administrative process.

According to a court filing, the U.S. Department of Homeland

Security sent Harvard a notice of intent on Wednesday to

withdraw the school's certification under the federal Student

and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), which allows Harvard to

enroll non-U.S. students.

Harvard has denied Trump administration charges of alleged

bias against conservatives, fostering antisemitism on campus and

coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party. It has 30 days to

respond to the notice.

The notice came ahead of a scheduled hearing before U.S.

District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston over whether to

extend a temporary order blocking U.S. President Donald Trump's

administration from revoking the Ivy League school's right to

host international students.

Harvard has said losing that right would affect about one

quarter of its student body and devastate the school.

Neither Harvard nor DHS immediately responded to requests

for comment.

Harvard had argued that the revocation violated its free

speech and due process rights under the U.S. Constitution as

well as the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs agency

actions.

Its lawyers said DHS regulations required providing at least

30 days to challenge the agency's allegations, and give Harvard

an opportunity to pursue an administrative appeal.

The revocation announced on May 22 was an escalation of the

Trump administration's attack on Harvard.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based university's lawyers

argued the agency's action was part of an "unprecedented and

retaliatory attack on academic freedom at Harvard," which is

pursuing a separate lawsuit challenging the administration's

decision to terminate nearly $3 billion in federal research

funding.

Harvard argues the Trump administration is retaliating

against it for refusing to cede to its demands to control the

school's governance, curriculum and the "ideology" of its

faculty and students.

The case before Burroughs, an appointee of Democratic

President Barack Obama, was filed after Homeland Security

Secretary Kristi Noem revoked the school's SEVP certification.

In announcing the decision, Noem, without providing

evidence, accused the university of "fostering violence,

antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist

Party."

In a letter that day, she accused the school of refusing to

comply with wide-ranging requests for information on its student

visa holders, including about any activity they engaged in that

was illegal or violent or that would subject them to discipline.

"As I explained to you in my April letter, it is a privilege

to enroll foreign students, and it is also a privilege to employ

aliens on campus," she said.

Harvard said the decision was "devastating" for the school

and its student body. The university, the nation's oldest and

wealthiest, enrolled nearly 6,800 international students in its

current school year, about 27% of its total enrollment.

The department's move would prevent Harvard from enrolling

new international students and require existing ones to transfer

to other schools or lose their legal status.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday that

Harvard University should have a 15% cap on the number of

non-U.S. students it admits. "Harvard has got to behave

themselves," he said.