Trump says Harvard should cap foreign student intake at 15%

US President Donald Trump has said that Harvard University should limit its international student enrollment to around 15 percent, criticising the current figure of 31 percent as too high.

“I think they should have a cap of maybe around 15 percent, not 31 percent,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We have people who want to go to Harvard and other schools — they can’t get in because we have foreign students there.”

His comments follow a move by his administration to revoke Harvard’s ability to enrol international students. However, a federal judge temporarily blocked that directive after the university filed a lawsuit, arguing it violated the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

“I want to make sure that the foreign students are people that can love our country,” Trump said. “We don’t want to see shopping centres exploding. We don’t want to see the kind of riots that you had.”

He called Harvard “a disaster” and said the university must be more transparent.

“Harvard has to show us their lists. They have foreign students — about 31 percent of their students are foreign-based. Almost 31 percent. We want to know where those students come from. Are they troublemakers? What countries do they come from?” he said.

Asked how the standoff with Harvard might end, Trump responded: “I don’t know. Harvard has got to behave themselves. Harvard is treating our country with great disrespect and all they’re doing is getting in deeper and deeper.”

Trump vs Harvard

The showdown between Trump and Harvard started when the president said he would crack down on pro-Palestine protests on US campuses.

He started with Columbia, which ignited a wave of pro-Palestine protests across US campuses, cancelling $400 million in federal funding to the university.

The university ultimately yielded to his pressure, announcing sweeping policy changes, including campus protest policies.

He later froze federal funding for both Cornell University and Northwestern University for allowing pro-Palestine protests.

As for Harvard, the university rejected Trump's demands in early April and later sued the administration for suspending around $2.3 billion in funding.

____

Source: TRT