DHS threatens to revoke Harvard’s eligibility to host international students unless it turns over disciplinary records

By Taylor Romine, Nouran Salahieh and Hanna Park, CNN, Apr.17: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is threatening to strip Harvard University of its ability to enroll international students if it doesn’t turn over records on international students’ “illegal and violent activities,” the agency said Wednesday.

Noem “wrote a scathing letter demanding detailed records on Harvard’s foreign student visa holders’ illegal and violent activities by April 30, 2025, or face immediate loss of Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification,” DHS said in a news release.

The certification allows universities to issue forms to admitted international students that they can then use to apply for visas to enter the United States, according to DHS.

With 6,793 international students attending Harvard, they comprise 27.2% of its enrollment in the 2024-25 academic year, according to the university’s data.

DHS on Wednesday also announced the cancellation of two federal grants worth $2.7 million to Harvard.

CNN has reached out to DHS for additional information.

A Harvard spokesperson said in a statement the university is aware of the letter, but they stand by their previous statement that they “will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.”

“We will continue to comply with the law and expect the Administration to do the same,” the statement said. “If federal action is taken against a member of our community, we expect it will be based on clear evidence, follow established legal procedures, and respect the constitutional rights afforded to all individuals.”

The DHS letter accuses Harvard of creating a “hostile learning environment” for Jewish students, according to the student newspaper The Harvard Crimson. CNN is working to obtain a copy of the letter.

“It is a privilege to have foreign students attend Harvard University, not a guarantee,” the letter reads, according to the school newspaper.

The letter requests the university provide information on visa holders’ “known threats to other students or university personnel,” “obstruction of the school’s learning environment,” and any disciplinary actions “taken as a result of making threats to other students or populations or participating in protests,” The Crimson reported.

This comes after the Trump administration froze over $2 billion in multi-year grants and contracts at Harvard University after its leaders refused to make key policy changes the White House also is demanding of other elite US colleges.

Harvard refused to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs, ban masks at campus protests, enact merit-based hiring and admissions reforms, and reduce the power of faculty and administrators the Republican administration has called “more committed to activism than scholarship.”

Trump officials say the White House’s demands aim to combat antisemitism following contentious campus protests in response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The administration has also moved to revoke the visas of hundreds of students, faculty and researchers at dozens of US universities and colleges. Some are high-profile cases involving alleged support of terror organizations, while others involve relatively minor offenses, such as years-old misdemeanors.