Judge blocks Trump's bid to bar entry of foreign students

White House had cited national security concerns to justify move against university

- 

BOSTON - A federal judge on June 23 blocked President Donald Trump's administration from implementing his plan to bar foreign nationals from entering the US to study at Harvard University.

US District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston issued an injunction barring Mr. Trump's administration from carrying out its latest bid to curtail Harvard's ability to host international students amid an escalating fight pitting the Republican President against the prestigious Ivy League school.

The preliminary injunction extends a temporary order the judge issued on June 5 that prevented the administration from enforcing a proclamation Mr. Trump signed a day earlier that cited national security concerns to justify why Harvard could no longer be trusted to host international students.

She ruled after Mr. Trump's June 20 announcement that his administration could announce a deal with Harvard "over the next week or so" to resolve the White House's campaign against the university, which has waged a legal battle against the administration's various actions against the school.

Mr. Trump signed the proclamation after his administration had already frozen billions of dollars in funding to the oldest and wealthiest US university, threatened Harvard's tax-exempt status and launched several probes into the school.