United States of America - April 2025

The Trump administration has targeted the funding and academic freedom of some universities. Through a task force ostensibly established to combat antisemitism, the government has made a series of demands to Harvard University that impact its academic freedom as well as the privacy and wellbeing of students accused of engaging in antisemitic activity. These allegations have been rejected by the academic institution. In response, the government has ordered the withholding of federal funds amounting to billions of dollars, a decision currently being challenged by Harvard before the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The government’s measures against Harvard and other universities such as Columbia, The University of Pennsylvania and Cornell, are part of a larger group of policies intended to influence higher-education institutions, including executive orders that prohibit foreign funding of universities, eliminate DEI in admissions, hiring, and in accreditation processes. Officials have required higher-education institutions to shift from their racial diversity initiatives to introduce viewpoint diversity instead. 

 Sources: CNN, The Guardian, The White House, BBC, NYTimes, Just Security, PBS

On 28 April, President Trump issued an executive order (EO) instructing the publication of a list of ‘sanctuary jurisdictions’ (cities and counties that have not cooperated with the government’s policies on migration). Such jurisdictions would risk having federal grants and contracts terminated or suspended if they refuse to collaborate with immigration policy. The EO further directs the creation of guidance to prevent undocumented migrants from receiving federal benefits, and to stop the enforcement of local-level legislation and policies related to higher education and the criminal justice system that are deemed to benefit undocumented migrants. Several cities affected by previous directives to ‘sanctuary’ jurisdictions had filed suit prior to the publication of the EO, to challenge any retaliation for not abiding by the federal government’s immigration enforcement priorities and had obtained an injunction to prevent federal funds from being withheld. On 10 May, a federal judge decided that the 28 April EO could not bypass such an injunction.

 Sources: The White House, Reuters, Just Security