Judge Delays Ruling on Trump Efforts to Bar Foreign Students at Harvard

A federal district judge delayed ruling Monday on whether to continue blocking President Trump’s proclamation that would bar international students from attending Harvard University.

The judge, Allison D. Burroughs, left a temporary order against the proclamation in place for the moment. She said she would rule by next week on whether to extend the order to remain in effect until the conclusion of a lawsuit Harvard has filed against the administration over the issue.

The delay followed a 90-minute hearing in federal court in Boston Monday, during which a lawyer for Harvard argued that the university had been subjected to “the most irregular and improper treatment that a university has ever suffered at the hands of the government.” He called the situation reminiscent of the McCarthy era.

In his proclamation, issued on June 4, President Trump invoked a 70-year-old law that gives the White House wide authority to block foreigners whom it views as dangerous to the United States from entering the country.

Ian Gershengorn, Harvard’s lawyer, argued that though the authority had been used dozens of times since it was enacted, it had never before been used against a domestic entity — until now, against Harvard.

Tiberius Davis, a Justice Department lawyer representing the administration, denied in court that the administration was singling out Harvard for adverse treatment. Mr. Davis asserted instead that the president issued the proclamation because Harvard had failed to respond adequately to requests for information about its international students, and because it maintained ties to China and “other foreign adversaries.”