Obama Judge Puts Trump Harvard Visa Halt on Hold

A Democrat-appointed judge has reportedly acted Monday to slow some of the Trump administration's foreign policy and national security moves.

Massachusetts U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs, appointed by former President Barack Obama, has extended the pause on the Trump administration's plans for extreme vetting of foreign student visas for attendees of Harvard, the student newspaper reported Monday.

"A federal judge extended her halt on Donald Trump’s entry ban on holders of Harvard-sponsored visas until June 23 and said she expects to rule on a preliminary injunction within a week," The Harvard Crimson's X account posted.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned about foreign student visa holders potentially representing threats to U.S. national security and has sought to pause Harvard's foreign student visas in order to undergo tough vetting.

Harvard filed a legal challenge this month against the Trump administration's block on the school's foreign student visas, asking for a judge to block the order and calling it illegal retaliation for Harvard's rejection of White House demands for cracking down on antisemitic and anti-American speech.

Burroughs has issued a temporary restraining order against the Trump administration, saying Harvard demonstrated it would sustain "immediate and irreparable injury."

Last month, the Department of Homeland Security revoked Harvard's certification to host foreign students and issue paperwork to them for their visas, only to have Burroughs block the action.

If Trump’s measure were to survive the court challenge, it would block thousands of students who are scheduled to go to Harvard's campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for the summer and fall terms. It would also direct the State Department to consider revoking visas for Harvard students already in the U.S.

"Harvard's more than 7,000 F-1 and J-1 visa holders — and their dependents — have become pawns in the government's escalating campaign of retaliation," Harvard wrote in a court filing seeking the injunction.

Information from The Associated Press was used to compile this report.

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