STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
A judge says Harvard University may continue enrolling international students, at least for now. A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction, which has the same effect as a temporary restraining order did last week - the Trump administration may not revoke the university's ability to issue student visas. NPR's Elissa Nadworny is covering this story. Elissa, good morning.
ELISSA NADWORNY, BYLINE: Good morning.
INSKEEP: What happened in court?
NADWORNY: Well, lawyers from Harvard and the Trump administration were in a packed courtroom in Boston on Thursday. The federal judge, Allison D. Burroughs, voiced concerns that the government was attempting to prevent foreign students from enrolling, despite her earlier order blocking the administration's planned actions. The Trump administration argues that Harvard has violated students' civil rights, including failing to protect Jewish students on campus and using racial discrimination in admissions, and that banning the school from enrolling international students is warranted. After the judge's order, the White House told NPR that the Trump administration, not judges, should decide if universities can issue student visas. Now, Harvard argues that the administration's actions are retribution, that President Trump is singling out Harvard and violating its First Amendment rights. And so the case is ongoing. For now, nothing changes for Harvard's international students.
INSKEEP: How big a deal is it for Harvard to be taking in international students?
NADWORNY: Well, Harvard has nearly 7,000 international students. It's about a quarter of the entire student body. Many of them were at Harvard's graduation ceremony, which was actually happening at the same time as the hearing yesterday. During the commencement, President Alan Garber addressed the graduates with a nod to the ongoing lawsuit.
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ALAN GARBER: Members of the class of 2025 from down the street, across the country and around the world.
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GARBER: Around the world, just as it should be.
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NADWORNY: Now, the audience gave him a standing ovation for that line. I've been in touch with Ella Ricketts. She's a first-year student from Canada studying at Harvard, and she's hesitant to call this order a victory.
ELLA RICKETTS: Until that case is actually won, I don't necessarily feel 100% safe with everything that's going on. Obviously, I remain optimistic and hopeful, but this is very much just one step in a much, much larger process.
INSKEEP: Every university in the country that has international students must be watching this case, Elissa.
NADWORNY: Exactly. You know, there are more than a million international students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities from community college to regional publics to Ivy League. India sends the most students to the U.S., followed by China. And Steve, these students bring about $43 billion to the U.S. economy every year.
INSKEEP: Wow.
NADWORNY: University leaders are worried, obviously, and a lot have told me that international applications are down compared to last year.
INSKEEP: You mentioned that China is one of the biggest senders of international students, one of the biggest spenders on American education, and the State Department announced this week that it's planning to revoke student visas for students from China. What's going on?
NADWORNY: So Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the department would work to, quote, "aggressively revoke" visas of Chinese students, including those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Now, Steve, it is worth reminding listeners that in Trump's first administration back in 2020, officials canceled visas of more than a thousand Chinese graduate students and researchers because they had direct ties to military universities in China. So it's a familiar move in the Trump foreign policy playbook.
INSKEEP: Depending on how big the scale turns out to be.
NADWORNY: Exactly.
INSKEEP: Elissa, thanks so much.
NADWORNY: You bet.
INSKEEP: NPR's Elissa Nadworny. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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