DHS Subpoenas Harvard for Documents on International Students

Updated July 9, 2025, at 8:04 a.m.

The Department of Homeland Security subpoenaed Harvard on Wednesday, demanding documents related to alleged misconduct by international students and the school’s compliance with federal immigration law.

The administrative subpoena, issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, compels Harvard to produce records, communications, and other documents related to the enforcement of immigration laws dating back to January 1, 2020.

“We tried to do things the easy way with Harvard,” wrote DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement. “Now, through their refusal to cooperate, we have to do things the hard way.”

“If Harvard won’t defend the interests of its students, then we will,” she added.

A Harvard spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The subpoena comes less than two weeks after a late June deadline issued by the DHS for Harvard to attest to its compliance with federal law or face the revocation of its certification to enroll international students on F and J visas.

Since April, the administration has demanded that Harvard turn over a wide array of materials, including internal emails, administrative memos, and audio and video footage of international students at protests. Wednesday’s subpoenas ramp up the federal government’s efforts to obtain records from Harvard in a months-long standoff over the University’s oversight of international students and compliance with federal immigration law.

Harvard spokesperson Jason Newton called the DHS’s subpoena “unfounded retribution” in a statement but pledged to comply to the extent required by law.

“Harvard is committed to following the law, and while the government’s subpoenas are unwarranted, the University will continue to cooperate with lawful requests and obligations,” he wrote.

The DHS has not publicly named a deadline for Harvard to respond or said what records it is asking for, and a department spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions from The Crimson.

Harvard submitted some documents in April and May, but the Trump administration has repeatedly deemed the submissions insufficient and cited the University’s partial compliance as justification for attempting to revoke Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program status and ban incoming students from entering the U.S. to study at Harvard.

Harvard sued in response, accusing the administration of retaliating against the University for engaging in protected speech. A federal judge has since granted Harvard preliminary injunctions blocking both efforts, allowing the University, for now, to continue enrolling international students.

But on May 28, as the administration began to rack up losses in court, the DHS threatened Harvard’s SEVP status a second time, giving the University a 30-day window to appeal plans to withdraw its certification. When the window expired on June 27, a Harvard spokesperson said the University had responded — but did not say what documents had been sent to the government or whether Harvard was taking action to comply with federal demands.

The Wednesday subpoena is Harvard’s second in less than two weeks. On June 26, the House Judiciary Committee issued a separate subpoena demanding records related to Harvard’s financial aid practices and alleged tuition-fixing across the Ivy League.

As part of the subpoena on Wednesday, the DHS also warned that other universities should “take note” of Harvard’s response — and the consequences — when considering whether to comply with similar federal requests. Though the Trump administration has scrutinized international student programs at multiple U.S. universities, Harvard is the only institution to date whose ability to enroll foreign students has been formally restricted — and the only one to have been issued a subpoena for document production relating to federal immigration enforcement.

The DHS argued that the subpoena was issued only after Harvard repeatedly refused to comply with prior requests for information. The agency wrote that it had made “many previous requests” tied to Harvard’s SEVP status but that the University failed to submit the required materials voluntarily.

“Because of the university’s repeated refusals,” DHS wrote in its statement, “these subpoenas are the only option left for the Department.”

The Trump administration has argued that Harvard’s international students represent inappropriate ties with foreign governments and that the University has failed to discipline them. It has also alleged, without evidence, that international students have contributed to disorder, campus crime, and antisemitism.

On Wednesday, the DHS cited allegations of “disciplinary disparity involving nonimmigrant students” and suggested that international students were involved in misconduct that Harvard failed to adequately report or address.

—Staff writer Dhruv T. Patel can be reached at dhruv.patel@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @dhruvtkpatel.

—Staff writer Grace E. Yoon can be reached at grace.yoon@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @graceunkyoon.