In a Wednesday night email to affiliates, Harvard said it had sent the Department of Homeland Security information about the criminal activity and disciplinary records of overseas students, The Harvard Crimson reported.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Harvard produced all of the requested information. University Executive Vice President Meredith L. Weenick said that Harvard had replied to the DHS’ request “to provide information required by law,” but a University representative declined to clarify which documents had been supplied.
Nearly two weeks ago, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem threatened to cancel Harvard’s permission to host foreign students under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program unless it shared information about the students, including records of their participation in protests.
The DHS gave Harvard until Wednesday to respond to the demands. “We take seriously the data retention and reporting obligations that enable participation in the SEVP,” Weenick wrote as per The Harvard Crimson report.
She wrote that Harvard “reiterated our steadfast commitment to sponsor the visas that facilitate our international students’ study” in its message to the DHS and “made clear” that it does not intend to withdraw from SEVP. Our participation in SEVP is unchanged at this time, and any withdrawal by DHS of Harvard’s certification would be involuntary,” Weenick wrote.
On April 16, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the cancellation of two DHS grants totaling over $2.7 million to Harvard University, declaring it unfit to be entrusted with taxpayer dollars. This action follows President Donald J. Trump’s decision to freeze $2.2 billion in federal funding to Harvard University, proposing the revocation of its tax-exempt status over its radical ideology.
Additionally, the Secretary sent a harsh letter threatening to immediately revoke Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification unless comprehensive information on the violent and unlawful actions of foreign student visa holders was submitted by April 30, 2025.
Under Title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the law Noem cited in the letter, universities must provide the DHS with information on international students’ degree program, course enrollment, grades, and academic status, including withdrawal, probation, suspension, or expulsion — upon request.
According to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement website, current international students on University-sponsored visas will have to decide whether to change their immigration status, transfer to another university, or leave the country if Harvard loses its SEVP status.
Hundreds of affiliates, including co-presidents of the Harvard Undergraduate Association student body and international undergraduates, had encouraged the university to refuse to comply with the requests outlined in Noem’s letter in the weeks since it was received, reported The Harvard Crimson.
The Harvard Crimson was previously informed by several legal experts that Harvard ought to consider challenging the DHS for its requests. The DHS was not included as a defendant in the case that Harvard had previously filed against nine federal agencies for $2.2 billion in federal funding cuts to the university.