Trump threatens Harvard: soon no more foreign students?

The American Elite University Harvard could lose the right to enroll foreign students. The Minister of Homeland Protection, Kristi Noem, said on Wednesday that she requested documents in a letter to the university until April 30th. It is about the “illegal and violent activities” of foreign student visa owners at the university. “And if Harvard cannot prove that his reporting obligations fully meet, the university will lose the privilege of registering foreign students”.

Noem also announced the deletion of two grants from their ministry in the amount of $ 2.7 million for Harvard. “With a foundation’s capital of $ 53.2 billion, Harvard can finance his own chaos – the Ministry of Homeland Protection,” said Noem. At the university there is an “anti-American, pro-Hamas ideology”. Harvard had previously stated that the University of Anti -Semitism and other prejudices on their campus had prevailed, but at the same time maintain academic freedom and the right to protest. The Trump government has already frozen or painted some funds for respected US universities such as Columbia, Princeton, Brown, Cornell and Northwestern.

The university announced in a statement that it had taken note of Noem’s letter. A spokesman for the university said the university remains with its earlier explanation that it would not cede its independence and constitutional rights.

The government of President Donald Trump has threatened several US universities for pro-Palestinian campus protests with the reduction of federal funds. Students protested the military attacks of the US allied Israel on the Gaza Strip. Israel had reacted to a fatal attack in a radical Islamic Hamas fighter in October 2023.

Trump sees the demonstrators as a foreign policy threat. They are anti -Semitic and sympathized with Hamas. The demonstrators, including some Jewish groups, say that the Trump administration is wrong with the support of extremism and anti-Semitism.

Trump has accused the university a left -wing ideology for a long time. Harvard refuses to implement a change of course required by Trump who, for example, concerns the approval of students, compliance with rules of conduct and hiring of university staff. The university had rejected numerous demands from the Trump government on Monday, which according to its own statements would deploy the private university to the government. The Trump government then stated that it would freeze $ 2.3 billion in funding.

Trump also threatened to withdraw Harvard on Tuesday. His government had asked the responsible authority IRS to revoke the university special status of tax status that is common for universities in the USA, based in Cambridge in the state of Massachusetts, the “Washington Post” wrote, citing three non -named sources. CNN also reported to the tax authority, citing anonymous sources. A final decision will soon be expected.

Non -profit organizations such as religious institutions, health organizations, animal welfare groups and also educational institutions enjoy tax exemption in the USA. Harvard and other private universities are recognized as charities because their activities primarily serve education and research. They also do not pour profits to individuals or shareholders and regularly have to take account of the tax authority in order to keep their tax exemption.