- Foreign Students Ban: Harvard Floors Trump
A judge today issued a halt to the ban imposed on the admission of foreign students imposed on Harvard University by the administration of President Donald Trump via the Department of Homeland Security.
The Trump administration had imposed the ban following the failure of the management of Harvard to provide the dossiers of students it said had been engaged in Anti- Semitism.
Anti- Semitism is the umbrella cover of all acts which Israel regards as evidence of the hatred of its Jewish people, even though many regard it as an over reach of the reality.
The Trump administration had, in April, demanded the dossiers from Harvard, which stoutly refused to comply, and, instead, sought legal protection from the judiciary after Trump imposed the ban yesterday.
And today, the university got the relief it badly needed after the judge of the Boston Court blocked the ban, fearing it violated the university’ s autonomy and the enabling law establishing the top grade institution, which admitted more than 7,000 foreign students in the current academic session.
Harvard had drawn the ire of the Trump administration after some of its students mounted Anti- American and Israeli protests following the Jewish state’s high heel military campaign on Gaza and the occupied West Bank and the blockade of aid into the strip.
In response , the Trump administration froze a $3 billion ( roughly N4,800billion) Federal Government grant due Harvard, and only yesterday stepped up the pressure by imposing the admission ban and ordering the transfer of existing foreign students to other schools, if they must remain in the country.
The halt to the implementation of the ban may have provided a temporary relief for the foreign students and the management of Harvard.
However, the mood in the institution remained tense as the hearing begins in court.
One of the students, Leo Gerden, a Swede, expressed disgust against the development which he described as unjust.
One of its students likely to be affected by the ban, if it is upheld, is an unnamed 23 – year old Queen Designate if Belgium.
About 24 per cent of the university ‘s students are foreigners who bring in huge funds and diverse cultural backdrops to the top level teaching, learning and research for which it is world – famous.
But Harvard is not the only university that the Trump presidency is targeting , after accusing them, without proof, of hating Israel and America, which has not only provided economic, military hardware, actionable intelligence and diplomatic support for the Jewish state in its policy of occupation , annexation, military campaign and humanitarian blockade on Palestinian land, especially Gaza, Khan Younis and the Occupied West Bank, but has targeted Houthis of Yemen who had risen in support of Palestinian group, Hamas, in its war against decades of Israeli occupation and annexation.
