Winning admission to Harvard University fulfilled a longtime goal for Yonas Nuguse, a student in Ethiopia who endured a war in the country’s Tigray region, internet and phone shutdowns, and the COVID-19 pandemic — all of which made it impossible to finish high school on time.
Now, it’s unclear if he will make it this fall to the Ivy League campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He and other admitted students around the world are anxiously tracking the school’s feud with the Trump administration, which is seeking to keep it from enrolling international students.
On Thursday, Harvard challenged President Donald Trump’s latest move to bar foreign students from entering the U.S. to attend the college, calling it illegal retaliation for Harvard’s rejection of White House demands. In an amended lawsuit filed Thursday, Harvard said the president was attempting an end-run around a previous court order.
A few hours later, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs issued a temporary restraining order against Trump’s Wednesday proclamation, saying Harvard had demonstrated “it will sustain immediate and irreparable injury before there is an opportunity to hear from all parties.”
Last month, a federal judge blocked the Department of Homeland Security from revoking Harvard’s certification to host foreign students.