The Trump administration is trying to block Harvard from enrolling international students. A Harvard official said the move is already creating major disruptions.

On the same day the Trump administration asked federal agencies to cut contracts with Harvard University, dozens of students gathered for a rally in support of their international classmates.

International students contributed $44 billion to the U.S. economy in the 2023-2024 school year. Their loss could hurt more than just universities’ bottom line.

The Trump administration has thrown the lives of the university’s 7,000 international students into distress and disarray, with some afraid of attending commencement this week, Harvard’s director of immigration services spelled out in a new court filing ahead of a major federal court hearing Thursday in Boston.

Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 vowed to defend the University’s international students in an interview Friday morning after the Department of Homeland Security moved to revoke Harvard’s ability to enroll them.

Harvard and the federal government are locked in a battle that boils down to turning over records on international students. But Harvard says it is also about the First Amendment.