The Trump administration has prohibited Harvard University from enrolling foreign students, following through on a threat to do so if Harvard failed to comply with an extensive records demand regarding the activities of such students, most of whom are permitted to study in the United States on F-1 student visas or J-1 visas that pertain to specific exchange programs.

If this decision holds, it would be a major escalation of the administration’s battle with Harvard. According to the University’s records, its 6,793 “international students” from 140 different countries account for nearly a third (27 percent) of the total student population.

In a letter last month, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, under the guise of monitoring Harvard’s Student Exchange and Visitor Program (SEVP) compliance with government regulations, demanded that the university “provide relevant information regarding” any “illegal,” “dangerous,” or “violent activity” in which, to Harvard’s knowledge, student-visa holders had engaged. The government also asked Harvard to inform it of any threats to other students, deprivations of classmates’ rights, or obstructions of the academic environment for which foreign students were known to be responsible. Secretary Noem further demanded information about whether foreign students were meeting standards for minimum required amounts of coursework in order to maintain eligibility for nonimmigrant student status.

It appears, according to the New York Times, that negotiations over what Harvard was willing to produce did not result in an agreement. Noem had warned that noncompliance would be deemed a “voluntary withdrawal” by Harvard from the SEVP. (Regardless of the merits of the matter, this is government coercion — it may be legal, but submitting to it would not be voluntary.) Consequently, Noem pulled the trigger and revoked Harvard’s SEVP certification, “effective immediately.” She posted today’s letter, informing Harvard of the revocation, on X.

The secretary said the administration would consider rescinding the revocation if the university meets its demand for information within 72 hours. Those demands now include “all audio or video footage in the possession of Harvard University, of any protest activity involving a nonimmigrant student on a Harvard campus in the last five years.”

In a post this morning regarding last night’s terrorist attack and murder of two young Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington, D.C., I surmised that the Trump administration would intensify its “commitment to deport from the United States aliens — even legal aliens — who have participated in pro-Hamas agitation on American campuses and elsewhere.” Obviously, the dispute between the administration and Harvard has been going on for weeks, and today’s major developments may have been in the works before last night’s atrocious killings. That said, I’ve never been a big believer in coincidences.