Esacalation: DHS Subpoenas Harvard Records Over Foreign Student Info

As Wilford Brimley once observed in Absence of Malice: “Wonderful thing, subpoenas.” 

Now it’s Harvard’s turn to learn that lesson. Early today, the Department of Homeland Security subpoenaed the university for its full records on foreign students within DHS’ Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). Harvard had resisted an earlier demand for this information, and now the Trump administration has decided to use “the hard way” instead:

President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sent administrative subpoenas to Harvard University today over information related to the criminality and misconduct of foreign students on its campus. 

The agency criticized the Ivy League school’s “refusal to cooperate” with past information requests regarding Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), which provides visas for non-citizens to study in the US. 

“We tried to do things the easy way with Harvard,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital. “Now, through their refusal to cooperate, we have to do things the hard way. Harvard, like other universities, has allowed foreign students to abuse their visa privileges and advocate for violence and terrorism on campus.”

This isn’t the first time that Harvard has been subpoenaed to force disclosure of government-adjacent practices. A couple of weeks ago, the House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Harvard for an investigation into Ivy League price-fixing, which may be even more worrisome than the risk to their access to SEVP:

The House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Harvard on Thursday in its investigation into whether Ivy League universities have coordinated their pricing, turning up pressure on a school already in an all-out battle with the Trump administration.

In the subpoena letter, Representatives Jim Jordan, the Ohio Republican who is chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Scott Fitzgerald, a Wisconsin Republican who leads a key subcommittee, demanded documents and communications about the university’s tuition and financial aid by July 17. They said they were issuing the subpoena after Harvard’s response to an earlier request for information was “inadequate” and “substantively deficient,” with much of the material that was turned over already publicly available. …

The House Judiciary Committee had originally sought information in a letter to Harvard on April 8, alleging that Ivy League schools were “collectively raising tuition prices” in breach of antitrust laws and were “engaging in perfect price discrimination by offering selective financial aid packages to maximize profits.” The committee requested a large swath of documents between Harvard, other Ivy League schools and the College Board that contained any communication related to tuition, financial aid and admission practices.

Harvard denies these allegations, but their lack of full disclosure in that case also suggests that they may have something to hide. At a certain point, “it’s the principle” starts failing as an explanation for dragging heels and borderline obstruction. That’s especially true when both the SEVP and tuition pricing involve the federal government to a significant extent. 

The SEVP issue entirely involves DHS, of course. The fight over these records has gone on for at least three months, and Kristi Noem suspended Harvard’s access to the program in May. A federal judge in Boston issued a preliminary injunction against that suspension three weeks ago, but that won’t last, and Harvard has to know it. A hometown judge may have sympathy for Harvard, and so may the appellate circuit also located in Boston, but the Supreme Court has had little patience with judges interfering in executive-branch policies thus far. If Harvard wants access to SEVP and federal funding, eventually they will have to play by the rules.

What happens now? Harvard will have to produce those records, or else their appeal on SEVP exclusion may lose what little sympathy the school can expect even from judges in Beantown:

Refusing to comply with an administrative subpoena carries heavy consequences such as civil penalties, criminal charges, contempt of court, and/or audits and inspections of an organization.

In this case, we can expect auditors to arrive with warrants as the next escalation. Trump and his team seem to understand the necessity of dialing up the pressure rather than just turning the amps to a Spinal Tap 11 all at once. If Harvard denies access at that point, then everyone involved can be hauled in front of a magistrate to explain why they are obstructing federal oversight of a program in which Harvard voluntarily participates, and from which they receive massive financial benefits. 

Or, y’know, Harvard could quit coddling terrorist sympathizers, protect its Jewish students and faculty, and stop pretending males are females to comply with federal law. That would be not just the “easy way” but the right way. Harvard apparently will refuse that choice unless and until they have no other options left. And while that is amusing as all get-out for the rest of us, maybe Harvard should find new leadership that can perform these easy moral and practical calculations.