Trump Blocks Visas for New Harvard Foreign Students, Citing National Security

US President Donald Trump on June 4 suspended for an initial six months the entry into the United States of foreign nationals seeking to study or participate in exchange programmes at Harvard University, amid an escalating dispute with the Ivy League school.

- 

WASHINGTON -

Mr Trump's proclamation cited national security concerns as a justification for barring international students from entering the US to pursue studies at the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based university.

Harvard, in a statement, called Mr Trump's proclamation "yet another illegal retaliatory step taken by the administration in violation of Harvard's First Amendment rights".

"Harvard will continue to protect its international students," it added. The suspension can be extended beyond six months.

Mr Trump's proclamation also directs the US State Department to consider revoking the academic or exchange visas of any current Harvard students who meet his proclamation's criteria.