International Student-Athletes In Jeopardy Of Being Forced To Transfer Or Have Visas Revoked 

By Oliver Hinson for DyeStat

EDIT Friday, May 23 update: A federal judge on Friday has granted Harvard's request for a restraining order against the Trump administration. READ MORE

More than two dozen international track and field student-athletes at Harvard University are at risk of being forced to transfer to another school or leave the country after Thursday’s announcement by the Trump administration that the Ivy League school would no longer be able to enroll foreign students. 

The Department of Homeland Security issued a warning that it would suspend Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification in three days if the university did not meet the government’s demands to provide records of international students’ “illegal and violent activities.” 

It’s the latest step that the administration has taken to punish the university for not complying with its policy directives. 

What that means for Harvard’s 6,800 international students is turmoil as commencement ceremonies, not to mention the end of spring sports calendar, are coming up.

Twenty-seven percent of the men’s and women’s track and field roster is composed of athletes from outside the U.S. (25 or 92). Harvard is due to compete at the NCAA Division 1 East preliminary round next week in Jacksonville, Fla. 

Harvard administrators indicated Thursday they would mount a legal challenge to the administration’s order. 

Kenneth Ikeji from the United Kingdom, a two-time NCAA champion who competes in the hammer throw, is a scratch for the NCAA meet although it was not clear why. 

On the women’s side, Anastasia Retsa, the school record holder in the pole vault, is from Greece. 

Last December, Harvard had a Bowerman Award finalist, Maia Ramsden, who was from New Zealand. 

It is unclear how Harvard’s foreign athletes will be affected by this move; those who have visas or green cards may face different consequences than those who have U.S. or dual citizenship.

There are two kinds of student visas: F-1 and J-1. The former is the most common, and it allows non-immigrant foreign nationals to pursue full-time study at an accredited academic institution. The latter is for students pursuing educational and cultural exchange programs. The administration did not indicate whether students on different visa types would be treated differently under the order.

According to an article by Sportico, about 7 percent of Division 1 athletes are from foreign countries. Across all three divisions, there are about 25,000 foreign athletes every year.