Trump Expands Travel Ban to 19 Countries and Bans Harvard Students from Entry

President Trump signed an executive order expanding travel restrictions to 19 countries, while simultaneously ordering that students and scholars from Harvard University be barred from entering the United States. The Harvard ban represented an unprecedented use of immigration authority to punish a specific academic institution.

The expanded travel ban added countries across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East to the restricted list, affecting millions of potential travelers, students, and workers. Unlike the original travel ban which cited terrorism concerns, several newly-added countries had no documented terrorist threats against the US.

The Harvard student ban came amid ongoing conflict between Trump and the university over its handling of campus protests and perceived insufficient cooperation with administration demands. The order effectively stranded Harvard’s international students outside the US and prevented foreign scholars from attending conferences or collaborating with the university.

Legal scholars described the Harvard-specific ban as an abuse of immigration authority for political retaliation—using national security powers to punish an institution for protected speech and academic positions. The action sent a clear message to other universities about the consequences of resisting administration demands.