A United States judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's administration from revoking Harvard University's ability to enrol foreign students but the prospect of forced transfer or deportation still looms for many.
The order provides only temporary relief to thousands of international students and the Trump administration has signalled its intention to challenge the ruling, with a White House spokesperson saying "unelected judges have no right to stop the Trump Administration from exercising their rightful control over immigration policy and national security policy."
The administration announced the Harvard visa revocation as part of an ongoing investigation into the university by Homeland Security, which has accused the university of "fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party".
Harvard has criticised the move as a "blatant violation" of constitutional free speech provisions and an attack on its "refusal to surrender our academic independence". It said the revocation would have an "immediate and devastating effect" on the university and more than 7,000 visa holders.
Australia's ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, said it would be "distressing" to Australian students at Harvard.
A 'stressful time' for Australian students
Sarah Davis, a student from Australia enrolled at Harvard University, said it was an "incredibly stressful time" on the ground.
"It's obviously an incredibly stressful time for Australian and Kiwi international students, but also for all international students," Davis told the BBC.
"The news has come only about five days before a lot of us are due to graduate [from] the university."
For students, that means a nervous wait, both for those who have gone home for the Northern Hemisphere summer break, and others — like Davis — who have just finished their studies and were anticipating relying on Harvard to sponsor them in the jobs they'd secured in the US.
"We're seeing a lot of confusion," she said. "This news seems to have taken at least the Harvard International Office by complete surprise."
"It got announced, actually, only ten minutes after we finished the final call for international students for the year. And they seemed to have no indication of this coming based on the call before the news broke," Davis said.
Australia monitoring developments 'closely'
Rudd said they were monitoring developments closely.
"I know this will be distressing for Harvard's many Australian students," he said in a statement on X.
"The embassy is working with the United States government to obtain the details of this decision so that Australian students can receive appropriate advice.
"We also intend to engage the administration more broadly on the impact of this decision for Australian students and their families both at Harvard and at other campuses across the United States."
'A warning to all universities'
Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem said the Trump administration was "holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus".
"It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enrol foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments," she said.
"Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country."
The decision has found support from conservative circles, including Jay Greene at The Heritage Foundation, an American think tank heavily involved in the Project 2025 manifesto — a proposed conservative presidential transition handbook.
"I think the Trump administration is trying to remind elite institutions in the United States that they are the beneficiaries of very large subsidies from taxpayers. And so they do have to serve American interests," Greene said.
It marks a significant escalation of the Trump administration's campaign against the elite Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which has emerged as one of Trump's most prominent institutional targets.
The move came after Harvard refused to provide information that Noem demanded about some foreign student visa holders at the university, the department said.
Harvard enrolled nearly 6,800 international students in the 2024-2025 school year, amounting to 27 per cent of its total enrolment, according to university statistics.
'Unlawful', Harvard says
"The government's action is unlawful", the university said in a statement.
"This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard's academic and research mission."
The university said it was "fully committed" to educating foreign students and was working on producing guidance for affected students.
Trump has undertaken an extraordinary effort to revamp private colleges and schools across the US that he says foster anti-American, Marxist and "radical left" ideologies. He has criticised Harvard in particular for hiring prominent Democrats for teaching or leadership positions.
Trump has frozen some US$3 billion ($4.7 billion) in federal grants to Harvard in recent weeks, leading the university to sue to restore the funding.
About 120 Australian students are studying at the university, according to the Harvard International Office website.
— With reporting by Australian Associated Press and Reuters
