Tuesday’s protest unfolded as news helicopters hovered overhead and graduating students in academic attire and their guests ate finger food at a reception on the lawns of Harvard Square nearby.
“All my international friends and peers and professors and researchers are at risk and (are) threatened with being deported – or their option is to transfer” to another university, said Alice Goyer, who attended the protest wearing a black academic gown.
“As a US student, it’s my responsibility to speak out for them.”
One history of medicine student from Britain graduating this week who gave his name only as Jack said that the policies pursued by Trump would make US universities less attractive to international students, even if the courts overturn the most damaging measures.
“The cloud may pass, but the damage will be done,” said Jack, whose parents had travelled from Britain for the graduation ceremony.
Foreign students “who are here don’t know where they stand, those overseas don’t know if they’ll be able to get back in … I don’t know if I’d pursue a PhD here, six years is a long time”, he added.
Harvard itself has filed extensive legal challenges against the Trump measures, which legal experts say are likely to be overturned by the courts.
Separately, alumni plan to file a lawsuit against Trump on Jun 9, filmmaker Anurima Bhargava told a virtual meeting staged by Crimson Courage, a grassroots alumni group that held a mass webinar to raise awareness and a fighting fund from former students.
