"It would be devastating," a former president of Harvard — and frequent critic of the university — said of the government's attempt to prevent Harvard from enrolling foreign students.

A judge has ordered a temporary restraining order blocking the Administration from revoking Harvard's certification.

Harvard is the first school to sue the administration after a back-and-forth between President Alan Garber and most of Trump's team.

Harvard University is challenging the Trump administration's decision to bar the Ivy League school from enrolling foreign students, calling it unconstitutional retaliation for defying the White House's political demands. It is the school's second suit against the Trump administration.

"... the government can’t pick and choose which information to share based on ideology," a senior staff attorney with the ACLU said.

The larger legal battle between Harvard and the Trump administration could raise questions of retaliation versus executive authority.

College officials fear that President Trump may use international enrollment as leverage to demand changes on campuses elsewhere.

The administration has frozen funding and targeted international students as it presses the university for a stronger response to alleged antisemitism.

Some of Harvard’s sports teams would be virtually wiped out by a Trump administration decision that would make the Ivy League school ineligible for international student visas.

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.