In Massachusetts, a federal judge has approved Harvard University’s plea to temporarily prevent the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from canceling its capacity to enroll international students. This decision comes after the university took legal action, arguing that the DHS’s move was a retaliatory response to Harvard’s noncompliance with various mandates from the Trump administration.

In a swift response, U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs, appointed by Barack Obama, issued a temporary restraining order less than 12 hours after Harvard’s filing. This order halts the administration from implementing any measures to repeal Harvard’s “Student and Exchange Visitor Program” (SEVP).

In the brief two-page order, Burroughs reasoned that if she did not bar the administration’s action, Harvard would suffer “immediate and irreparable injury before there is an opportunity to hear from all parties.”

In the lawsuit, Harvard asserts that for nearly a century, the school has invested millions of dollars to recruit and integrate the most talented students from across the globe, an effort the President Donald Trump is seeking to undue in the blink of an eye.

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“This revocation is a blatant violation of the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause, and the Administrative Procedure Act,” the complaint states. “With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the University and its mission.”

Attorneys representing the university did not mince words in accusing the government of engaging in a “campaign of retribution” after the administration last month demanded that Harvard produce all records of disciplinary actions involving non-citizen students and any footage of student protests, among other things, in a supposed effort to combat antisemitism and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. The school provided responses to the requests that the government deemed “insufficient,” per the lawsuit.

While the administration has targeted multiple prestigious universities in similar fashion, Harvard has likely been hit the hardest, with $60 million in grants and about $3 billion in contracts being frozen. The Justice Department has also opened numerous investigations into the school while repeatedly threatening to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status.

“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 university’s latest lawsuit says. “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.”

The Trump administration, which openly accused Harvard of promoting anti-Israel sentiments and violence, particularly antisemitic violence, quickly responded to Burroughs’ issuance of the TRO.

“The ruling delays justice and seeks to kneecap the President’s constitutionally vested powers under Article II,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement emailed to multiple news organizations. “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; that fact hasn’t changed. The Trump administration is committed to restoring common sense to our student visa system, and we expect a higher court to vindicate us in this. We have the law, the facts, and common sense on our side.”