Reuters reported on April 16 (local time), US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced that he would end two sponsorships worth more than $2.7 million for Harvard and asked the school to provide documents related to allegations of foreign students here "illegally and violently engaged" before April 30.
If Harvard fails to demonstrate its full compliance with current reporting regulations, the school will no longer be allowed to accept international students.
The new move by the Trump administration comes amid escalating tensions between universities and the federal government over protests in support of Palestinians on campus following the deadly Hamas attack in October 2023 and Israel's military campaign in Gaza.
The government accused the protester of being a threat to foreign policy and tending to be Judeo-Jewish, supporting Hamas. Meanwhile, protestants, including some groups of Israelis, said they were only defending the rights of Palestinians and criticized Israel's military action, not extravagant cheering.
The Trump administration is also deporting several foreign protests and has revoked hundreds of visas nationwide. At the same time, they are reviewing $9 billion in federal contracts and funding for Harvard. Earlier this week, Harvard rejected a series of government requests that the school said eroded autonomy.
The government then announced a freeze of $2.3 billion in funding. President Trump has also threatened to lift Harvard's tax exemption. According to CNN, the Tax Department is preparing to do this and will soon make a final decision.
The Trump administration has also asked Harvard to ban masks on campus and eliminate diversity, equality and integration programs if it wants to continue receiving federal funding.
Several other prestigious universities, such as Columbia, Princeton, Brown, Cornell and Northwestern, have also frozen or cut their budgets for similar reasons.
