Harvard cannot enroll foreign students for the next school year and existing foreign students will be required to transfer.

The Trump administration faces an uphill battle in its fight to remove Harvard University‘s ability to enroll foreign students, as President Donald Trump takes aim at the university for its alleged violations of civil rights laws and executive orders.

The Trump administration has revoked Harvard University's eligibility to enrol foreign students, raising concerns over the legal status of thousands of students, including nearly 800 from India, currently enrolled at the varsity.

Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem issued a stern warning to all universities, asserting that enrolling foreign students was a privilege, not a right. The order directly affects more than 788 Indian students currently studying at Harvard.

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.

Legal experts say the smuggling charge against Kseniia Petrova is unlikely to be upheld, though it could bolster deportation efforts.

As Trump moves to ban foreign students from enrolling at Harvard, at least one university in China says applicants are welcome to come there instead.