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Xinyi Wu

Chinese students have spoken of the uncertainty they and other international students feel after US President Donald Trump’s administration left them in limbo after revoking Harvard’s right to enrol them.
The Department of Homeland Security said the measure would take effect immediately, adding that foreign students already studying there must transfer to another university or lose their legal status.
“There’s literally nothing we can do at the moment,” said a first-year undergraduate who asked not to be named.
She said transfers to another university were out of the question as the deadline for doing so – typically early to mid-March – had passed.
“We’re just waiting for news from the school. There’s too little information now, but the dust hasn’t settled yet.”
Foreigners made up around 27 per cent of Harvard’s student body in the past academic year.
China is one of the main sources, with an estimated 1,800 to 2,300 students from the country studying at Harvard each year, according to the university’s website.
The Department of Homeland Security’s letter to Harvard justified its decision on the basis of Harvard’s alleged treatment of Jewish students and protests relating to the Israel-Gaza conflict.
However, a press release on its website also referred explicitly to China’s ruling Communist Party.


It accused the university of engaging in “coordinated activity with the CCP, including hosting and training members of a CCP paramilitary group [the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps] complicit in the Uygur genocide”. Beijing has denied allegations of human rights abuses in the far-western region.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning pledged support for those affected by the move.
“China-US educational cooperation is mutually beneficial. China has always opposed the politicisation of educational cooperation,” she said, adding that the move could “only damage [America’s] image and international credibility”.
A Chinese graduate student in his final year, who also requested anonymity, said he had considered staying in the US, but the latest news as well as the handling of pro-Palestinian students meant he and his friends now preferred to go.
The Beijing native was due to attend his commencement ceremony next Thursday but expressed concern about how the new directive might affect his graduation status and degree.
“But I think the policy might be changeable. It’s definitely unconstitutional,” he added.
In a lawsuit filed on Friday in federal court in Boston, the university said the government’s action violated the first amendment of the US constitution and would have an “immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders”.
“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the university and its mission,” the suit said.
Harvard also said it plans to file for a temporary restraining order to block the Department of Homeland Security from carrying out the move.
A Californian federal judge has previously blocked the Trump administration from terminating the legal status of international students and arresting or detaining them based on their immigration status until a court case challenging previous attempts to revoke visas is resolved.
But that has not stopped worry and confusion from sweeping through the international student community.




“Everyone is very anxious,” said a postdoctoral fellow who declined to be named. “It’s really difficult for students who are studying now.”
Incoming students said they had already faced problems in their visa applications.
Zhu Wenbo, who is scheduled to begin his master’s at the Harvard Graduate School of Design later this year, had his visa application placed under administrative processing when he went for an interview at the US consulate in Wuhan on Friday morning.
The visa officer told him that there was nothing they could do due to the new policy, so “I can only wait and see”.
Zhu said that while he did not mind taking a gap year if Harvard allowed him to defer, not everyone had that option.
Some prospective students have turned down offers from other leading universities in favour of Harvard only to find themselves in limbo.
“We’ve prepared for a long time to get into the Harvard programmes. Of course we cannot help but feel a little frustrated,” said Helena Tang, a Wuhan-based undergraduate due to begin an exchange semester at Harvard later this year.
She spent the morning discussing possible options with friends, some of whom had already rejected offers from other universities.
“But we’ve calmed down. There’s no use in being anxious now, since it’s not working hours in the US,” Tang said, adding that she hoped the US constitution would help resolve the situation.
Additional reporting by Sylvie Zhuang and Associated Press


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Thousands of foreigners are in limbo after the US Department of Homeland Security bans the university from taking international students


Thousands of foreigners are in limbo after the US Department of Homeland Security bans the university from taking international students.


Chinese students speak of worries over Harvard ban: ‘there’s nothing we can do’

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Thousands of foreigners are in limbo after the US Department of Homeland Security bans the university from taking international students

Thousands of foreigners are in limbo after the US Department of Homeland Security bans the university from taking international students