‘Harvard bending the knee to antisemitism—driven by its spineless leadership—fuels a cesspool of extremist riots and threatens our national security,’ says DHS secretary Kristi Noem
The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday threatened to revoke Harvard University’s eligibility to enroll international students unless the Ivy League school turns over records on anti-Semitic “illegal and violent activities” committed by international students.
In what the department called a “scathing letter,” DHS secretary Kristi Noem demanded that Harvard provide “detailed records on [its] foreign student visa holders’ illegal and violent activities by April 30, 2025, or face immediate loss of Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification,” according to a department press release.
The warning comes as the Trump administration has frozen more than $2 billion in federal grants and contracts to Harvard, after the Ivy League school snubbed White House demands for tougher action against campus anti-Semitism. The administration accused Harvard of failing to meet the “intellectual and civil rights conditions” that justify federal funding.
President Donald Trump has also proposed revoking Harvard’s tax-exempt status. “Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting ‘Sickness?'” Trump wrote Tuesday on Truth Social.
The DHS in its Wednesday letter condemned Harvard for creating a “hostile learning environment” for Jewish students and noted that “it is a privilege to have foreign students attend Harvard University, not a guarantee.” The department cited Trump’s January executive order that instructed universities to monitor and report on anti-Semitic activities of international students.
The letter directs Harvard to disclose information on visa holders’ “known threats to other students or university personnel,” “obstruction of the school’s learning environment,” and all disciplinary actions “taken as a result of making threats to other students or populations or participating in protests.”
The DHS on Wednesday also canceled two grants worth $2.7 million to Harvard, calling the school “unfit to be entrusted with taxpayer dollars,” according to the department’s press release.
Harvard spokeswoman Sarah Kennedy O’Reilly in a statement to the Harvard Crimson said the school is “aware” of the department’s letter but stands by its Monday assertion that it “will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.”
Noem slammed Harvard in the press release, saying, “Harvard bending the knee to antisemitism—driven by its spineless leadership—fuels a cesspool of extremist riots and threatens our national security.”
