By Aaron Gifford and Catherine Yang
Contributing Writers
The Department of Homeland Security has revoked certification of Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced on social media platform X on Thursday.
The decision prohibits Harvard from enrolling international students.
“This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,” Noem wrote.
“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. Harvard had plenty of opportunities to do the right thing. It refused. They have lost their Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law. “
Noem’s May 22 statement said a combination of infractions by Harvard, including collaboration with the Chinese Communist Party and fostering an atmosphere of antisemitism, violence, and “pro-terrorist conduct from students on its campus,” led to this action.
The revocation also means existing foreign students must transfer to another school or lose their legal status, the statement said, adding that many of the agitators who harassed Jewish students, hosted and trained members of the CCP, and were complicit in the Uyghur genocide were from other nations.
Harvard University called the federal government’s action in this matter unlawful.
“We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard’s ability to host our international students and scholars, who hail from more than 140 countries and enrich the University — and this nation — immeasurably,” Harvard University spokesman Jason Newton said in an emailed statement.
“We are working quickly to provide guidance and support to members of our community. This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard’s academic and research mission.”
The DHS terminated $2.7 million in grants to Harvard last month. Noem said university administrators refused to comply with her April 16 demands requesting information about “criminality and misconduct” of foreign students on its campus.
Legislators demanding transparency
Lawmakers in the House of Representatives are demanding transparency from Harvard University over partnerships with sanctioned groups, including those involved in the Chinese regime’s forced organ harvesting and its genocide against Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang region. In particular, the lawmakers highlighted the university’s partnerships with blacklisted Chinese entities.
Reps. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., Tim Walberg, R-Mich., and Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. —chairs of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and the House Republican Conference, respectively — sent the letter to Harvard University President Alan Garber on Monday, requesting documents and testimony by June 2.
Lawmakers raised concerns over Harvard’s participation in providing training to Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, which the United States sanctioned in 2020 for “serious rights abuses against ethnic minorities” in the Xinjiang region.
“On multiple occasions, Harvard hosted and trained members of the sanctioned, paramilitary organization XPCC — one of the primary implementers of the CCP’s genocide against the Uyghur people,” lawmakers said.
“Harvard stated that its training was designed to help ‘participating policymakers … translate the lessons from the course into tangible, effective policies,’” the letter reads. “But to XPCC, ‘effective policies’ are those that succeed in repressing the Uyghur people.”
Harvard’s first association with the XPCC was in 2019, before the sanctions, and an archived statement from a Harvard China Health Partnership conference thanks the XPCC for its participation. The line has since been removed.
The lawmakers note that although Harvard did not mention XPCC in statements about subsequent HCHP conferences, Chinese agencies issued statements that name XPCC as a participant in both the 2023 and 2024 HCHP conferences, and HCHP published a photo that blurs out four panelists’ names.
The lawmakers said XPCC has used “health care-related efforts” to further its persecution. For instance, it questioned more than 1,000 Uyghurs and published results in a study that was later retracted by the BMC Public Health journal for ethical violations.
Forced Organ Harvesting
U.S. and international bodies have recognized that the Chinese regime is perpetrating forced organ harvesting from live prisoners of conscience and have urged caution in supporting China’s transplant industry.
Given the longstanding issues, lawmakers raised concerns over recent organ transplant research that Harvard conducted in collaboration with Chinese partners. They listed seven papers published between 2022 and 2024, including one titled, “Transplantation of a beating heart: A first in man.”
Lawmakers also demanded answers over research collaborations that concern military applications. They listed as examples: micro-robotics research with Tsinghua and Zhejiang universities, U.S. Air Force-funded alloy research with Huazhong University, U.S. Air Force-funded research on polymer science with a Zhejiang University professor, and research funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency concerning artificial intelligence and optical chip applications with researchers at Tsinghua University.
Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, and Huazhong University are not sanctioned entities, but are state-owned institutions with open ties to the Chinese military.
