‘Standing up for our democracy’: Experts cheer as judge blocks Trump’s ‘chilling’ Harvard order

On Friday, May 23, President Donald Trump’s campaign against Harvard University suffered a setback when U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs issued a restraining order blocking — at least temporarily — the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from revoking Harvard’s access to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, a federal government database that manages foreign students.

In a letter sent to Havard on May 22, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote, “I am writing to inform you that effective immediately, Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification is revoked.”

Noem declared, “Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.”

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Judge Burroughs’ decision is receiving a lot of reactions on X, formerly Twitter.

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Attorney Greg Lukianoff tweeted, “I really want to stress that the government’s demand that Harvard turn over five years of footage of protests — not limited to those that got out of control or involved illegal behavior — is one of the more chilling things I’ve seen in my career. The TRO was the right call. Clearly any such footage would include not just the targeted non-citizens, but a great number of Americans as well. Did you table on behalf of animal rights? Participate in a prayer service for the unborn? Gather at a candlelight vigil, hand out pocket constitutions, protest a speaker? If you care about free speech, no matter what you think of Harvard, we need to care about this.”

The conservative group Republicans Against Trump posted, “BREAKING: A federal judge in Boston blocked the Trump administration’s order banning current and future international students from attending Harvard. Judge Allison D. Burroughs issued a temporary restraining order, finding it would cause ‘immediate and irreparable injury’ to the university. Winning!”

X user Thomas Taistra wrote, “Great! I never perceived Harvard as a particularly liberal school, especially compared to my other alma mater, New York University. At Harvard, I felt that there were always voices on all sides of any issues, as it should be. However, Trump’s moronic and self-destructive actions against one of America’s and ultimately the world’s greatest universities have acted as a great unifying force for the entire Harvard community. Regardless of their liberal or conservative leanings or stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, all those voices find Trump’s illegal takeover attempt unacceptable.”

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Taistra continued, “I am also very pleased to discover that Harvard is not the university of Heidelberg in the 1930s, merely trying to survive. It is actively fighting against this openly fascistic Trump regime. On a final note: I personally loved my time at Harvard, but I would always have admitted that it is one of the most pretentious institutions I had ever seen. That was always a point of conflict for me. However, if you are the one showing up to fight against the barbarians on the gate, I can live with your pretentiousness much better. Fight Fiercely, Harvard!”

The Protecting Kamala Harris account tweeted, “BREAKING: U.S. District Court Judge Allison Burroughs has blocked the Trump Administration from revoking Harvard University’s certification to enroll foreign students. RETWEET to thank Judge Burroughs for standing up for our democracy!”

The Boston Globe’s Tal Kopan noted, “As the Trump administration escalates its attacks on Harvard by barring it from enrolling foreign students, a reminder of the notable conservatives on its legal team.”

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