Chris Geidner
@chrisgeidner.bsky.social
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Here is Harvard's new lawsuit, over the international student revocation, filed by the same team of lawyers behind the first
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.285083/gov.uscourts.mad.285083.1.0_2.pdf
Case 1:25-cv-11472 Document 1 Filed 05/23/25 Page 2 of 72
1. For more than 70 years, Harvard University {"Harvard" or the "University"} has been certified by the federal government to enroll international students under the F-1 visa
program, and it has long been designated as an exchange program sponsor to host J-1
nonimmigrants. Harvard has, over this time, developed programs and degrees tailored to its
international students, invested millions to recruit the most talented such students, and integrated
its international students into all aspects of the Harvard community. Yesterday, the government
abruptly revoked that certification without process or cause, to immediate and devastating effect
for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders.
2. This revocation is a blatant violation of the First Amendment, the Due Process
Clause, and the Administrative Procedure Act. It is the latest act by the government in clear
retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government's demands
to control Harvard's governance, curriculum, and the "ideology" of its faculty and students. The government's actions are unlawful for other equally clear and pernicious reasons. They disregard
the government's own regulations-under which Harvard should remain certified to host F-1 and
J-1 visa holders. They depart from decades of settled practice and come without rational
explanation. And they were carried out abruptly without any of the robust procedures the
government has established to prevent just this type of upheaval to thousands of students' lives.
ALT
REQUEST FOR RELIEF
WHEREFORE, Harvard respectfully requests the following relief:
A.
Declare that Defendants' actions to revoke Harvard's SEVP certification through
69
Case 1:25-cv-11472 Document 1
Filed 05/23/25
Page 71 of 72
B.
D.
the Revocation Notice are unconstitutional and/or unlawful because they violate
the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause, and the APA;
Preliminarily and permanently enjoin Defendants, their agents, and anyone acting
in concert or participation with Defendants from implementing, instituting,
maintaining, or giving effect to the unlawful revocation of Harvard's SEVP
certification;
Preliminarily and permanently enjoin Defendants, their agents, and anyone acting
in concert or participation with Defendants from giving any force or effect to the
Department of Homeland Security's May 22, 2025 Revocation Notice;
Permanently enjoin Defendants, their agents, and anyone acting in concert or participation with Defendants from issuing a NOW or otherwise initiating
proceedings to withdraw Harvard's SEVP certification in retaliation for Harvard's
exercise of its rights under the First Amendment, or because of the viewpoint of
Harvard's First Amendment protected speech, or because of Harvard's refusal to
comply with the April 11 Demand Letter.
ALT
May 23, 2025 at 8:53 AM