The Trump administration is acting to keep international students from enrolling at Harvard. In addition, it is targeting all visa holders at the university, with the possibility that many must return to their home countries. So far, a federal judge has blocked the administration’s actions.

Keeping international students from enrolling at Harvard, or any university for that matter, is ill-conceived, and inadvertently creates a national security threat that will live on far beyond the current administration.

U.S. universities are a national treasure. Any ranking of the top worldwide institutions of higher education is filled with U.S. schools. Places like Harvard, MIT and Stanford consistently rank among the very best in the world. Many of our nation’s public schools, such as the University of Michigan, the University of California-Berkeley and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, are also internationally recognized.

All such schools are magnets for the brightest minds and talent in the world, including domestic students. All students compete for a place in such schools, gaining not only a superb education but the chance to contribute to society and the nation’s economy for many decades in the future. The number of seats available in such schools exceeds domestic student demand, giving international students........

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