When President Donald Trump targeted international students during his first term, Harvard spoke out defiantly in their defense.

This time around, the University's gone quiet.

Where before, Harvard openly criticized the administration's travel ban, provided legal resources to affected students, and led lawsuits against restrictive immigration policies, today's University leadership has dropped defiance in favor of compliance and diplomacy.

Amidst looming changes to federal policy — along with recent efforts to detain or revoke visas from several international students and faculty — many have looked to the University for guidance.

In the last couple of months, we interviewed four international students about their experiences. Though we spoke before incidents like the detention of Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil captured national attention, what we heard painted a picture of a hostile political climate, at times exacerbated by Harvard's inconsistent or inadequate response.

The Threat of Travel Restrictions

Less than a month after Trump's re-election, many international students were already left scrambling.

Typically, Harvard grants housing over winter recess to international students with "demonstrable financial need." This year, however, the University included language requiring "other unique circumstances" to be eligible.

The College Housing Office then denied both the winter housing applications and subsequent appeals of dozens of international students — many of whom receive significant financial aid. In the aftermath, they were left to choose between booking expensive flights home or finding other accommodations.

After immense public pressure, the decisions were reversed, but the ordeal had already caused significant — seemingly unnecessary — strife on the dawn of Trump's return to office.

Shortly after, the Harvard International Office advised students to return to campus before the presidential inauguration, citing concerns about "potential changes to immigration policies."

During Trump's first term, he instituted a travel ban targeting predominantly Muslim-majority countries and attempted to prohibit international students from remaining in the US while they attended school online amidst COVID-19 lockdowns.

The HIO's advice apparently emerged from the fear that restrictions like these could reappear on day one. For some students, this directive was overly cautious. For others, it spoke to all too legitimate fears.

The University was right to reverse course on winter housing and advise international students to return to campus early. Yet on both fronts, its response was late and myopic.

The decision to grant winter housing only came after significant public outcry. The advice regarding the return to campus was given less than two weeks before winter break — more than a month after the election had been called — at which point many students had already booked their flights home.

It wasn't impossible to predict that housing and travel would be particularly complicated for international students this year. The University should have foreseen these tenuous circumstances earlier — and acted accordingly.

'A Very, Very Scary Order'

At the end of January, the Trump administration issued an executive order instructing universities to monitor international students for participation in crime or terrorism.

In a fact sheet on the order, Trump threatened to deport the "resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests."

Trump may have wanted to pass the order off as an anti-discrimination or national security measure. But for some international students, the policy seemed to be a clear attempt to intimidate those considering participating in — or even learning about — campus activism.

In the face of that uncertainty, the University offered little reassurance.

Now, the Trump administration appears to be making good on the order's promises. On March 8, federal immigration officers arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a leading pro-Palestine activist at Columbia University and legal permanent resident of the United States. Khalil is currently detained in Louisiana, facing deportation.

In the weeks since his arrest, the administration has continued to revoke visas from several more international students and faculty associated with the pro-Palestine movement.

Peaceful protest is vital for a robust democracy. International students deserve the right to participate politically to the same extent as any of their American peers. Even Immigration and Customs Enforcement has previously seemed to acknowledge internally that international students are protected by the First Amendment.

But Harvard is sending a different message. The University's virtual silence in response to efforts to suppress student speech speaks volumes — especially after it spent the last year cracking down on student protest.

By failing first to sufficiently clarify the impact of Trump's executive orders, and now to speak out against the politically-motivated, attempted deportation of several academics, the University allows them to achieve their desired effect: chilling student speech.

There are many steps the University could take to support international students. Harvard can and should provide guidance about students' legal rights and vocally affirm the value of international students to our community.

Beyond that, the University could outright challenge the Trump administration's unjust actions. On Tuesday, the Harvard chapter of the American Association of University Professors filed a lawsuit against the administration over its attempts to deport non-citizens for expressing pro-Palestine views. The University ought to learn from its faculty and follow suit.

Certainly, speaking out invites unwanted attention that could affect Harvard's finances. But the cost of protecting democracy is one worth paying. And it isn't as high as it might seem – the Trump administration's funding cuts seem to rely on legally suspect methods.

To allow such a fragile threat to chill its response to the government's McCarthyist crusade renders the University complicit — a failure that history will not look on kindly.

'A timer that starts ticking'

For many international students, the visa system is complex, bureaucratic, and complicated to navigate, especially as they near the end of their time at Harvard. Uncertainty wrought by the Trump administration has only made things worse.

Those on an F-1 visa — the majority of international college students — must normally leave the country no more than 60 days after their academic program ends. Some apply for Optional Practical Training, temporarily extending their time in the US on the condition that they spend most of it working in a field directly related to their major. In other words, they must soon secure employment — or face potential deportation.

The uncertainty of life after college weighs heavily on many international students, whose fates seem to lie at the whims of politicians. The recent battle in the Republican Party over the H-1B visa program threw this dynamic into stark relief.

International students often find themselves stuck in a race against time to secure employment as their college experience unfolds under the shadow of post-graduation job hunting.

Time is already a scarce resource for Harvard students. Having to navigate political and bureaucratic obstacles only distracts from what college is supposed to be about — education.

After years of hard work, friendships, and aspirations, international students can have their lives upended by a failed job search. In some cases, that includes the risk of returning to a politically or economically unstable home country.

This dysfunctional visa system is nothing new. But a hostile political environment adds fuel to the fire.

What's at Stake

Trump's attacks have only made life harder for international students. And Harvard's haphazard response has hardly met the moment.

The University will be making a grave mistake if it continues to let threats from the White House go unanswered. Silence in the face of Trump's xenophobic, McCarthyist political agenda only legitimizes it further.

Selling out international students won't save the rest of the University; it simply paves the way for crackdowns on whichever set of vulnerable students comes next.

Now more than ever, Harvard needs to stand up for its values. And international students need Harvard to support and affirm their place in our community. The administration can do far more to provide clearer guidance, build real safety nets, and, at the very least, remind its students that they matter.

A truly world-class institution does not just benefit from global talent — it fiercely protects it.

Videography and video editing by E. Matteo Diaz. Interactive produced by Vivian W. Hui.

E. Matteo Diaz '27, an Associate Editorial editor and Crimson Diversity and Inclusivity Chair, is a double concentrator in Social Studies and Applied Mathematics in Leverett House. Zakiriya H. Gladney '27, a Crimson Editorial editor, is a double concentrator in Statistics and Social Studies in Dunster House.