‘Used Like Pawns’: International Harvard Students Call Out Trump’s Tactics

In a Tuesday evening protest on campus, Harvard students lambasted President Donald Trump for targeting the school’s international students as the White House continues to ramp up attacks on the Ivy League university.

“In his attempt to dictate our speech and take over this university, Trump is willing to use all internationals as poker chips, as collateral. It is deeply, deeply dehumanizing,” said graduating senior Leo Gerdén, an international student from Sweden, who wore a cap and gown to the protest. “We never wanted to take this fight, but we have no choice but to take it. Because if we start to give in, he’s going to demand even more.”

The Trump administration took aim at Harvard’s international students last week, revoking the university’s ability to enroll them. It’s a move that could affect as many as 6,800 students at the school — nearly 30% of the student body — forcing them to transfer or lose their legal status. And it’s since been contested by Harvard and blocked by a federal judge, though a final ruling about its legality is still to come.

This act is just one of many Trump has taken to undermine Harvard after it refused to comply with the White House’s demands to change hiring policies and curriculum, and to combat what the administration has described as antisemitism on campus.

Trump’s actions have fueled uncertainty and chaos for the school’s international students, who aren’t sure if they’ll be able to return for another semester — and who fear they’re simply being used as “pawns” in the White House’s ongoing tirade against Harvard.

“When I first read the news, I was in a state of shock,” Alfred Williamson, a Harvard freshman from Wales, told HuffPost in an email. “I spent the next few hours speaking to other internationals at Harvard — some phoned me up in tears and I spoke to others about the possibility of transferring.”

Speakers echoed these concerns at the protest on Tuesday, which was organized by a Harvard student activist group called Students for Freedom.

“Seeing what happened to students who speak out, my family is really worried about my safety in the U.S.,” one international student reportedly told the group, which read aloud a slew of anonymous accounts due to concerns that people had about retaliation.

Jacob Miller, a graduating senior and former president of a Harvard Jewish student organization, also pushed back on the White House’s narrative about its demands.

“Let’s be clear: This has nothing to do with combating antisemitism,” emphasized Miller, who was previously president of Harvard Hillel. “Antisemitism is a real problem. It’s a problem at Harvard. It’s a problem in our country, but these policies will do nothing to combat this age-old hatred. Instead, they are designed to divide us apart. And so I’m here today to tell you that the Jewish community rejects this administration’s narrative.”

Previously, the White House froze $2 billion in federal funds and grants to the institution in its attempt to discipline Harvard. And this week, it’s called on federal agencies to drop contracts they have with the school, an act that’s likely to cost the university another $100 million.

Attacks on international students, meanwhile, are poised to undermine the university’s ability to retain talent, as well as, possibly, one of its sources of tuition revenue.

“Internationals like myself did not choose to get caught up in this battle between Harvard and the White House, and yet we are being used like pawns in a game that we have no control over,” Williamson said.

Pippa Norris, a comparative political scientist who’s taught at Harvard for 30 years, told HuffPost last week that the effects of Trump’s decision will be felt by both international and American students taking classes at the Harvard Kennedy School, which houses the university’s government and public policy programs.

“This is not in America’s interests, quite simply,” Norris said.

About 90% of the students she teaches at the Kennedy School are international, she said, with many from China, India and developing countries. Without them, Norris noted, it’s hard to conceive of certain programs existing in the upcoming academic year.

“One could immediately see not just individual classes being undersubscribed, but of course, complete programs at the Kennedy School,” she said. Norris pointed to a Master in Public Administration in International Development that she says is designed for people who want to work at institutions like the U.S. Agency for International Development, the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the World Bank.

“Is it going to actually run next year?” she asked of the program. “It’s going to be decimated by this decision.”

Even if those programs continue, she said, they’d be at a disadvantage without their international student body.

“If you’re an American student, then you are no longer able to experience learning from people who actually lived and worked in countries around the world. And so that’s really problematic in a global community, whether you’re talking about business or politics or international affairs,” she said, adding: “If you have no depth of contacts, networks or knowledge, then how can you actually be an effective businessperson?”

And though the courts have offered some reprieve for now, Norris predicted Trump’s actions against Harvard could do long-term damage to one of the United States’ oldest, most prestigious institutions.

“It’s a problem for future recruitment. Why would anybody want to apply to Harvard if they don’t know … if they’re even going to be able to study?” she asked, noting it’s reasonable for international people to worry about future attacks on student visas.

“My heart goes out to these people who have invested everything in coming to Harvard,” she said, noting it’s hard to transfer schools when you’re halfway through a program.

“It’s not cheap. They’ve spent all their time applying. They could have gone elsewhere, I’m sure, because they’re some of the best and brightest, but they chose Harvard,” she said. “And then they’re told halfway through, ‘I’m sorry, you can’t come back for the final part of your degree.’”

Attendees at Tuesday’s protest called out these fears in numerous chants at the event, with many U.S. students emphasizing that they stand with their international peers.

“Who belongs in class today? Every student, let them stay,” they yelled.