US District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston issued an injunction barring Trump's administration from carrying out its latest bid to curtail Harvard's ability to host international students amid an escalating fight pitting the Republican president against the prestigious Ivy League school.
The preliminary injunction extends a temporary order the judge issued on June 5 that prevented the administration from enforcing a proclamation Trump signed a day earlier that cited national security concerns to justify why Harvard could no longer be trusted to host international students.
She ruled after Trump's Friday announcement that his administration could announce a deal with Harvard "over the next week or so" to resolve the White House's campaign against the university, which has waged a legal battle against the administration's various actions against the school.
Trump signed the proclamation after his administration had already frozen billions of dollars in funding to the oldest and wealthiest US university, threatened Harvard's tax-exempt status and launched several investigations into the school.
The proclamation prohibited foreign nationals from entering the US to study at Harvard or participate in exchange visitor programs for an initial period of six months, and directed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to consider whether to revoke visas of international students already enrolled at Harvard.
But Burroughs said Trump's administration was likely violating Harvard's free speech rights under the US Constitution's First Amendment by retaliating against it for refusing to meet its demands to cede control over the school's curriculum and admissions and by targeting it based on what officials viewed as the university's left-leaning orientation.
The judge said "at its root, this case is about core constitutional rights that must be safeguarded: freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and freedom of speech, each of which is a pillar of a functioning democracy and an essential hedge against authoritarianism."
"Here, the government's misplaced efforts to control a reputable academic institution and squelch diverse viewpoints seemingly because they are, in some instances, opposed to this administration's own views, threaten these rights," she wrote.
Harvard said the ruling will allow it to continue hosting international students and scholars while the case moves forward. It added it will continue to defend the rights of the school, its students and scholars.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Almost 6,800 international students attended Harvard in its most recent school year, making up about 27 per cent of its student population.
10°C