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Donald Trump slammed Harvard for enrolling 31% foreign students, demanding names and alleging lack of contribution from their home countries.
A file photo of US President Donald Trump (AP)
Days after revoking Harvard University’s ability to enrol foreign students, US President Donald Trump on Sunday claimed that nearly 31 per cent of students at Harvard are from foreign countries, some of whom do not pay anything toward their students’ education.
In a post on his social media handle, Truth Social, Trump demanded the names of foreign students from such countries.
“Why isn’t Harvard saying that almost 31% of their students are from FOREIGN LANDS, and yet those countries, some not at all friendly to the United States, pay NOTHING toward their student’s education, nor do they ever intend to. Nobody told us that!”, he wrote.
“We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isn’t exactly forthcoming. We want those names and countries. Harvard has $52,000,000, use it, and stop asking for the Federal Government to continue GRANTING money to you!,” he added.
While Harvard called the Trump administration’s decision a “blatant violation” of the US Constitution and other federal laws, a US judge temporarily blocked the administration’s order.
The temporary restraining order stops the government from pulling Harvard’s certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which allows the school to host international students with visas to study in the US.
The Trump administration’s revocation of Harvard’s ability to enrol international students came as a sharp punishment to the elite institution for refusing to bow to White House policy demands.
Rooted in political ideology, the requirements, such as handing over student disciplinary records and killing equity initiatives – also have been placed on other US colleges.
“Harvard can no longer enrol foreign students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status,” the US Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
Harvard’s new lawsuit was filed against the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice and State, as well as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
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