Reference News Network reported on May 27 that according to a report by CNN on May 24, against the backdrop of the Trump administration's measures to ban Harvard University from admitting foreign students, international students at the university said they were experiencing "pure panic". Students from all over the world told CNN reporters that they might face visa revocation, research suspension, and the possibility of not being able to re-enter the United States if they leave this summer.
After Harvard University filed a lawsuit with the federal court, a federal judge suspended the ban on May 23. Harvard University stated that the revocation of the qualifications for its international student and exchange scholar programs was obviously a retaliatory act due to the school's refusal to accept the government's ideologically based policy requirements.
Abdullah Shakhid Sheer, co-chair of the student union and from Lahore, Pakistan, told CNN on May 23 that tens of thousands of international students remained in an uncertain state, and they were "obviously very worried" because they did not know their current legal status.
He said: "They are teenagers, far from home, and have to deal with this situation on their own, while lawyers often hesitate to get involved out of concerns."
It was reported that about 27% of Harvard University's students are international students, and 6,793 international undergraduates and postgraduates come from almost every country and region in the world.
Sheer said in an interview on May 23: "Harvard is Harvard because it can attract people from all over the world, not just Americans. The best students in the world come to this university to study, which greatly benefits the United States. However, they are treated inhumanely and not respected."
Karl Maldon, from Austria, said: "Many of us have worked hard to enter universities like Harvard, and now we need to wait to see if we have to transfer schools and face visa difficulties."
Maldon is traveling abroad and is worried that he may not be able to return to campus. He feels that international students are being used as "a pawn in a larger struggle between democracy and authoritarianism."
For months, officials at Harvard University and the Trump administration have been in conflict because the government requires Harvard University to reform its campus projects, policies, recruitment, and admissions to eradicate anti-Semitism and "racist" behavior, which the White House claims.
A postdoctoral student studying at Harvard University from Israel said she felt that Jewish students were being used as pawns by the Trump administration, and the government was suppressing ideas that were not always aligned with its own rather than truly caring about the safety of Jewish and Israeli students.
A graduate student from Australia said in an interview, "We are all punished equally for campus radicalism," which "feels strange" because researchers and doctoral students often do not have the time or interest to participate in such activities."
Leo Yedden from Sweden, who will graduate next week, told reporters that some of his friends still at Harvard were "formulating transfer plans, especially to institutions abroad."
He said: "I might leave this place, and Harvard will look different next semester because these international students and international researchers will no longer be there. In the fight between the White House and Harvard, we are basically treated as pawns on the table, frankly speaking, this feels very inhumane."
According to another report by CNN on May 25, US President Trump said his administration wanted the "names and nationalities" of the thousands of international students attending Harvard University, adding that foreign countries, especially those unfriendly to the United States, should pay for the education of their students in the US.
"Why doesn't Harvard explain that nearly 31% of its students are from foreign countries, and some of those countries are not friendly to the United States at all, and have not paid for the education of their students and never intend to?" Trump wrote on "Truth Social" on May 25.
Trump said that his administration wanted to "know who these foreign students are and want their names and nationality information," but Harvard University "did not fully cooperate." (Translated by Guo Jun)
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