A federal court on Friday issued a temporary restraining order, pausing the Trump administration's move to terminate Harvard University's student visa program, Fox News reported.

The decision came after Harvard filed suit, challenging the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) policy.

Judge Allison Burroughs granted Harvard's request to preserve the status quo, setting a hearing for Tuesday morning in Boston federal court.

Harvard asserts that the DHS policy, which could affect over 7,000 visa holders—nearly a quarter of its student body—is a "blatant violation of the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause, and the Administrative Procedure Act," according to its court filing.

The DHS sought to cancel the program, alleging Harvard's failure to provide extensive behavioral records of student visa holders. The department had given Harvard 72 hours to comply with its request and re-enter the visa program. Under the now-paused policy, Harvard would be barred from enrolling foreign students in the 2025-2026 academic year, and existing foreign students would face transfer or loss of legal status in the US.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin responded to the lawsuit, stating, "This lawsuit seeks to kneecap the President’s constitutionally vested powers under Article II."

She added, "It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments. The Trump administration is committed to restoring common sense to our student visa system; no lawsuit, this or any other, is going to change that."

This development marks the latest escalation in a growing conflict between the Trump administration and prominent US universities over the handling of growing antisemitism on campus.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration officially revoked $2.2 billion in federal funding previously allocated to Harvard University, citing the institution's failure to address antisemitism and alleged racial discrimination on campus.

In addition to the funding cuts, President Donald Trump has also advocated for revoking the university's tax-exempt status.

Last month, Harvard initiated legal proceedings in an attempt to lift the grant freeze. In its lawsuit, it says that Harvard is currently covering the lost funding from its $53.2 billion endowment but warns that this is unsustainable. "Without the federal funding at issue, Harvard would need to operate at a significantly reduced level," the lawsuit states.

Several weeks ago, Harvard published two internal reviews detailing incidents of discrimination against Jewish, Muslim, and Arab students during last year’s protests. The reports found that some students feared marginalization for expressing political views.

(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)