Dem county executive dings Trump admin over sanctuary jurisdiction designation
In a statement responding to the inclusion of Montgomery County Maryland on a list of sanctuary jurisdictions in the U.S., County Executive Marc Elrich accused the Trump administration of seeking to criminalize immigrants and “create fear.” President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for a list of sanctuary jurisdictions. DHS issued the list on Thursday, the department noted in a post on X. “We are not in violation of federal law, and we will not be making changes based on political headlines. Montgomery County has always cooperated with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in cases involving violent crimes, serious felonies, and threats to public safety. That has been and remains our policy,” Elrich said in his statement. LEADERSHIP SHAKE-UP COMING AT ICE, HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS, SOURCES SAY “This designation, like many other actions taken by this administration, is about criminalizing immigrants, not protecting public safety. We will not be complicit in efforts to stigmatize or target our immigrant communities,” the Democrat declared. “These types of announcements are designed to create fear. But we do not govern by fear in Montgomery County. We govern by the law and by our values.” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the arrest of an MS-13 member in a press release earlier this month, noting multiple instances of the Montgomery County Detention Center failing to honor immigration detainers for the individual over the years, including just last month. “The Montgomery County Circuit Court in Rockville convicted Amaya of attempted motor vehicle theft April 4, and sentenced him to three years of confinement with two years, five months and 11 days suspended,” the release noted of Salvadoran national Nelson Vladimir Amaya-Benitez. “On April 18, the Montgomery County Detention Center again declined to honor ICE’s immigration detainer and released Amaya from custody.” POLK COUNTY SHERIFF GRADY JUDD NAMES OBSTACLES IN DETAINING MIGRANTS UNDER TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION POLICIES Montgomery County Department of Correction and Rehabilitation Director Ben Stevenson acknowledged the “error.” “This individual met the criteria we use to notify and coordinate with ICE due to a prior felony conviction and validated gang membership in the DOCR records. We failed to make this notification. We take full responsibility for this error,” he said in a statement. “Montgomery County has stated consistently that we cooperate with ICE in cases involving individuals convicted of violent crimes, verified gang members, drug distributors & traffickers and other felony convictions. That policy remains in place.” TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SETS NEW GOAL OF 3,000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTS DAILY CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Elrich said during a media briefing that “we goofed on our part. We did not make a policy decision to let this person go.” The Trump administration has been aiming to crackdown on illegal immigration and is seeking to remove many individuals from the country after massive numbers of people flowed across the U.S. border during President Joe Biden’s administration.
Harvard DHS lawsuit revives Supreme Court conflict of interest questions
Harvard University’s lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security for moving to ban foreign students at the Ivy League school could be on a fast track to the Supreme Court, reviving a longstanding debate over when justices should recuse themselves from cases. Four Supreme Court justices attended Harvard. While being an alumnus of a university involved in litigation does not typically warrant recusal from a case, other factors, such as deeper involvement with a school, could change matters. Professor James Sample, a constitutional law professor at Hofstra University, told Fox News Digital recusals from every case involving universities justices attended or were linked to would be “untenable,” but recusals could be appropriate in certain circumstances. A recusal is “entirely subjectively applied by the justice in his or her own case, and, rightly or wrongly — and I’m among those who have criticized the practice — the practice on the Supreme Court is that only the justice in his or her own case, and no one else, makes that determination,” Sample said. JUDGE TEMPORARILY PAUSES TRUMP MOVE TO CANCEL HARVARD STUDENT VISA POLICY AFTER LAWSUIT Justices Neil Gorsuch and Elena Kagan attended Harvard Law School. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson attended Harvard for both their undergraduate and law degrees. Kagan served as dean of Harvard Law School. Ed Whelan, a legal scholar who clerked for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, told Fox News Digital the fact that a justice “went to Harvard or loved University of Alabama football is never going to be a reason for recusal.” Jackson’s ties to Harvard run perhaps the deepest though. The justice, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, served a six-year term on the Harvard Board of Overseers through 2022, and one of her daughters is a student there and preparing to graduate next year. Whether Jackson should recuse herself from Harvard litigation that comes before the high court can, “legally speaking,” only be determined by her, Sample said, pointing to the open-ended language in the statute governing judicial recusal. TRUMP ADMIN ASKING FEDERAL AGENCIES TO CANCEL REMAINING HARVARD CONTRACTS Harvard’s latest lawsuit, filed Friday in Massachusetts, alleges the Trump administration’s decision to ban international students at Harvard by stripping them of their visas is unconstitutional. Harvard’s attorneys made an emergency request for a restraining order, and Judge Allison Dale Burroughs, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, granted the order within hours. The order brought the DHS’s visa operation against Harvard to a temporary halt and opened the door for the government to turn to higher courts for relief, meaning it could be on an expedited path to the Supreme Court. In 2023, Jackson recused herself from Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, a landmark affirmative action case, while the three other justices affiliated with Harvard did not. Some legal experts have said that in that instance it was necessary for Jackson to recuse because her tenure on the board, a governing body at the university, was current when the case hit the high court’s docket. But Harvard’s new cases could be a different story. “The specificity of the particular nexus that connects the justice to the specific interest at stake in litigation, as that gets more specific, as that nexus gets closer and closer, the potential for an appearance of conflict increases,” Sample told Fox News Digital. TRUMP SAYS HARVARD’S FOREIGN STUDENTS ARE FROM COUNTRIES PAYING ‘NOTHING’ FOR THEIR EDUCATION Harvard’s visa case is one of two lawsuits the school has brought against the Trump administration this year. In the second, brought in April, Harvard alleged the Trump administration improperly froze grant money and contracts totaling more than $2 billion. That case is moving at a slower pace than the visa lawsuit. Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s decision to recuse herslef in an unrelated case recently made headlines after the high court issued a deadlocked decision, 4-4, leaving in place a block on the creation of a religious charter school in Oklahoma. If Barrett had weighed in, the case could have had the far-reaching effect of allowing or banning public funding for religious schools across the country. Barrett did not explain why she recused herself, and judges are not required to. The Associated Press reported that the justice is close friends with law professor Nicole Garnett, who was connected to the case. Last week, because of recusals, the Supreme Court declined to take up Baker v. Coates, a copyright case involving plagiarism allegations against activist Ta-Nehisi Coates. The high court noted in an order list that five justices opted not to take part in the case and that it therefore lacked a quorum to consider it. The nonpartisan group Fix the Court speculated that four of the five recused themselves because they had published or plan to publish books with Penguin Random House, whose parent company was named in the suit. Democrats repeatedly urged conservative Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from Trump’s 2020 election subversion case because of Thomas’ wife’s work attempting to reverse the results of the election in favor of Trump, but the justice ignored those calls. Gorsuch attended Columbia University, another school under fire from the Trump administration and involved in litigation, but he likely would not step away from cases brought by the school solely because he went there.
President Trump teases ‘last day, but not really’ for Elon Musk at DOGE: Oval Office presser set for Friday
Elon Musk is finishing his official role in the Trump administration, but if President Trump’s latest Truth Social post is any indication, the billionaire isn’t going far. “I am having a Press Conference tomorrow at 1:30 P.M. EST, with Elon Musk, at the Oval Office,” Trump posted Thursday. “This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way. Elon is terrific!” Musk’s government service will end May 30, the legal 130-day limit for his “special government employee” designation. He was appointed in January to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), created by executive order on Inauguration Day. WHAT’S NEXT FOR DOGE AFTER ELON MUSK’S DEPARTURE? ‘ONLY JUST BEGUN’ “As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk posted on X Wednesday. “The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt emphasized Thursday “the DOGE leaders are each and every member of the President’s Cabinet and the president himself, who is wholeheartedly committed to cutting waste, fraud and abuse from our government.” And the cuts are adding up. According to a May 26 update on DOGE’s website, the initiative has saved $175 billion through asset sales, contract cancellations, fraud payment crackdowns and other spending cuts. That translates to about $1,087 in savings per taxpayer. ELON MUSK DOES NOT REGRET WORK AT DOGE, SUPPORT FOR TRUMP: ‘ESSENTIAL’ FOR AMERICA TO ‘REACH GREATER HEIGHTS’ DOGE’s reach has extended across the federal government, but not without pushback. Democrats in Congress have sharply criticized Musk’s role. During a February House Oversight hearing, Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., called his influence “reckless and illegal,” accusing Trump of “outsourcing governing to a billionaire who answers to no one.” Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, warned Musk was acting as an “unelected official” inside the executive branch. Despite the criticism, markets are welcoming Musk’s return to the private sector. Bloomberg reported Tesla shares rose 4.2% this week on news of his government exit. In an investor call earlier this month, Musk reassured shareholders, “Starting in June, I’ll be allocating far more time to Tesla and SpaceX now that the groundwork at DOGE is in place.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Fox News Digital’s Diana Stacy and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
Anthony Weiner discusses sexting scandal while attempting political comeback, says ‘women are crazy about me’
Anthony Weiner, the disgraced ex-congressman seeking to return to politics as a member of New York’s City Council, quipped during an interview that “women are crazy about me” despite going to prison and being required to register as a sex offender. “Oh for sure, for sure, my god, they’re crazy about me. Women are crazy about me,” Weiner said when comedian and podcaster Adam Friedland asked if the power politicians wield makes them more attractive to the opposite sex. Weiner’s sexting saga began more than a decade ago after a lewd photo of the married congressman in his underwear was posted to one of Weiner’s public social media accounts. That initial photo set off a series of events, including his widely publicized departure from Congress in 2011, additional sexting scandals and an FBI investigation that resulted in Weiner serving 21 months in prison and registering as a sex offender for sending sexually explicit images to a minor. FORMER DEMOCRATIC REP. ANTHONY WEINER, CONVICTED OF ILLICIT CONTACT WITH MINOR, FILES TO RUN FOR NYC COUNCIL Weiner appeared Wednesday on a YouTube-based show hosted by Friedland, during which the podcaster suggested Weiner’s sexting scandal wouldn’t even break the “top 100” news stories of the year in 2025. Weiner agreed, adding “it was a relatively slow news period” at the time. He also said his name was part of the reason it gained so much publicity. “I’m a guy named Weiner who tweeted out a picture of his d—,” he said. Friedland pointed to what he suggested was a lack of coverage about accusations against former GOP Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, who was accused last year of engaging in sex with a minor. Gaetz has denied the accusations. ANTHONY WEINER SAYS VOTERS DON’T WANT WHAT ‘DEMOCRATS ARE SELLING,’ TALKS ABOUT COMEBACK AS FIERY CENTRIST “Right, and if his name was Matt Kidf—er then the story would have,” Weiner said, before Friedland interjected. “No, that’s not true,” Friedland said. “Think about it this way. If it was today, it would be a 48-hour news cycle, and it would be forgotten.” Weiner challenged Friedland’s theory, telling him it was not a novel idea to think technology played a role in making his sexting scandal so widely publicized. “Let’s move off of this one, not terribly novel idea that technology played a part,” Weiner said. Weiner and Friedland continued discussing the sexting scandal, including the potential domino effect it played in relation to James Comey’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server. During the FBI’s investigation of Weiner’s alleged sexual crimes against a minor, officials reportedly came across emails that prompted FBI Director Comey to reopen an investigation into Clinton’s use of the email server. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Other topics included how Weiner frequently gets mistaken for another sex scandal-plagued New York politician, Eliot Spitzer, how he stayed safe in prison, what it was like having to register as a sex offender and his relationships with other New York Democrats. Weiner is running in the Democratic primary to represent Manhattan’s East Side District 2.
Trump denounces court’s ‘political’ tariff decision, calls on Supreme Court to act quickly
President Donald Trump wrote a fiery, lengthy post on social media Thursday night in response to the intense legal battle surrounding his proposed tariffs. On Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit allowed Trump’s tariffs to temporarily remain in effect, just one day before the US. Court of International Trade on Wednesday ruled that Trump overstepped his authority over tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). On Truth Social, Trump wrote that the U.S. Court of International Trade “incredibly” ruled against the “desperately needed” tariffs, but the order was stayed by the federal court. “Where do these initial three Judges come from? How is it possible for them to have potentially done such damage to the United States of America?” the Republican’s post read. “Is it purely a hatred of ‘TRUMP?’ What other reason could it be?” TWELVE STATES SUE TRUMP OVER TARIFFS, CLAIMING THEY’RE ‘ILLEGAL’ AND HARMFUL TO US ECONOMY Trump then took aim at Leonard Leo, a chairman on the Federalist Society’s board of directors. Trump said that he used the conservative legal organization to pick out judges when he was “new to Washington.” “It was suggested that I use The Federalist Society as a recommending source on Judges,” Trump wrote. “I did so, openly and freely, but then realized that they were under the thumb of a real ‘sleazebag’ named Leonard Leo, a bad person who, in his own way, probably hates America, and obviously has his own separate ambitions.” Trump added that he was “so disappointed” in the Federalist Society “because of the bad advice they gave me on numerous Judicial Nominations.” DISTRICT JUDGES’ ORDERS BLOCKING TRUMP AGENDA FACE HEARING IN TOP SENATE COMMITTEE “This is something that cannot be forgotten!” the Republican said. “With all of that being said, I am very proud of many of our picks, but very disappointed in others. They always must do what’s right for the Country!” The president then rounded out his lengthy post by calling attention back to his pending tariffs, which he claimed would lead to a “rich, prosperous, and successful United States of America.” “The ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade is so wrong, and so political!” Trump said. “Hopefully, the Supreme Court will reverse this horrible, Country threatening decision, QUICKLY and DECISIVELY.” “The President of the United States must be allowed to protect America against those that are doing it Economic and Financial harm. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner and Bill Mears contributed to this report.
Chinese nationals who infiltrated US universities
The Trump administration has intensified its scrutiny of Chinese nationals studying at U.S. universities after several instances in recent years of students from the communist country engaging in alleged surreptitious activity while in the United States. The incidents, which have involved allegations of espionage, conspiracy and accusations of misleading federal officials, occurred as a result of Chinese nationals or others with Chinese ties participating in joint education programs between the United States and China. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security plan to “aggressively revoke” student visas of Chinese nationals, “including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party.” A Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson blasted the new policy in a statement Thursday on X, saying the move was “fully unjustified” and damaging to the United States’ reputation. STATE DEPARTMENT SAYS IT WILL ‘AGGRESSIVELY REVOKE’ VISAS OF CHINESE STUDENTS “Citing ideology and national security as a pretext, the move seriously hurts the lawful rights and interests of international students from China and disrupts people-to-people exchanges between the two countries,” spokesperson Lin Jian said. Nearly 300,000 Chinese nationals have student visas in the United States. It is unclear if the State Department plans to target all of them or only some. Fox News Digital reached out to the department for clarity. Below is a look at some recent incidents involving Chinese nationals at universities. The DOJ brought charges against five University of Michigan students last year after a sergeant major encountered them at Camp Grayling in 2023. The students had cameras with them and were discovered as the U.S. National Guard was conducting a massive training operation at the site with Taiwanese military members, according to a complaint. They were all Chinese nationals attending the University of Michigan as part of the school’s joint program with a Shanghai-based university, an FBI official wrote in the complaint, noting some of them had taken photos of Camp Grayling’s military installations and operations. The FBI asked the court to issue arrest warrants for the students for making false statements and destroying records. Two Chinese nationals who were graduate students at the University of Michigan pleaded guilty in 2020 after they were caught illegally entering and photographing defense infrastructure at a naval air station in Key West, Florida. Fengyun Shi, a Chinese national studying at the University of Minnesota, was convicted in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia last year of unlawfully using a drone to take photos of naval bases in Norfolk, Virginia. Shi was sentenced to six months in prison and a year of supervised release, and the Biden administration revoked his visa in response to the charges. ICE announced in May that it deported him to China. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION BEGINS NEW WAVE OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENT VISA REVOCATIONS: ‘NO ONE HAS A RIGHT TO A VISA’ While not a Chinese national, Charles Lieber, former chair of Harvard’s chemistry department, was convicted in 2021 of making false statements to authorities and failing to report income from his work with China’s Wuhan University of Technology and a contract he had with China’s Thousand Talents Program. Ji Chaoqun, a Chinese national and one-time student at the Illinois Institute of Technology, was sentenced to eight years in prison after he was convicted by a jury in 2022 of attempting to commit espionage and theft of trade secrets. Ji was found to have gathered information on defense contractors, engineers and others as part of a broader effort by high-level Chinese intelligence officials to obtain inside access to U.S. technology advancements. Rubio’s announcement also comes after Harvard filed a lawsuit alleging the Trump administration improperly banned all foreign nationals from the Ivy League school by revoking its student visa certification. A judge temporarily blocked the administration from carrying out the ban as the case plays out in the courts. STATE DEPARTMENT NOW SCRUTINIZING ALL VISA HOLDERS ASSOCIATED WITH HARVARD ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons told Harvard in a letter made public through court filings that the revocation was a result of the alleged prevalence of antisemitism on campus but also a result of the administration’s “serious concerns” that the university has “coordinated with the Chinese Communist Party.” Lyons cited several examples, including Harvard accepting $151 million from foreign donors since 2020, working with “China-based academics” on projects funded by an “Iranian government agent,” partnering with Chinese universities and using public funds to do so and collaborating with people “linked to China’s defense-industrial base.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “This coordination is a valid and substantive reason for withdrawing Harvard University’s [Student Exchange Visitor Program] certification to enroll foreign students,” Lyons wrote. Harvard attorneys argued during a court hearing Thursday that the Trump administration did not give the university a chance to rebut the claims about antisemitism and CCP ties before the foreign student ban was enacted. The administration agreed to give Harvard one month to respond to those claims while the ban remains on hold.
Trump DHS issues warning after anti-ICE protesters attempt to disrupt arrest
The Department of Homeland Security is warning would-be disrupters to avoid interfering with federal immigration enforcement operations after it said a demonstrator attempted to disrupt a federal immigration arrest in New York City on Wednesday. Nearly two dozen anti-ICE protesters were also detained in another part of the city later that day. Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital that ICE agents contacted Federal Protective Service (FPS) on Wednesday morning and “requested assistance as their officers were conducting arrests” in the lobby of a federal immigration court building. McLaughlin said FPS officers responded and saw several protesters filming and taking pictures of law enforcement personnel in the lobby. She said that at approximately 11:45 a.m. a person attempted to forcibly interfere with ICE agents attempting to place someone in custody. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SETS NEW GOAL OF 3,000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTS DAILY McLaughlin said ICE reported the incident to FPS as “an assault on one of their officers.” The person was briefly taken into custody, issued a U.S. district court violation notice and released, according to McLaughlin. In response to the incident, McLaughlin said, “Anyone who actively obstructs law enforcement in the performance of their sworn duties will of course face consequences which could include arrest.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE Later that day, nearly two dozen anti-ICE protesters were detained by the New York Police Department outside a federal building in Manhattan on Wednesday night after a chaotic protest led to police struggling with demonstrators. An NYPD spokesperson told Fox News Digital that officers responded to a 911 call for a “disorderly group” in front of a DHS building at approximately 6:35 p.m. NYPD HUNTS FOR MAN ACCUSED OF BEATING OFF-DUTY COP AND STEALING HIS GUN, ALLEGED ACCOMPLICE ARRESTED The spokesperson said that “upon arrival, officers observed approximately 20-30 demonstrators sitting in the roadway, blocking vehicular traffic” and that “the demonstrators were instructed verbally numerous times to vacate the roadway and did not comply.” As a result, the spokesperson said 23 individuals were taken into custody, 18 individuals were issued criminal court summons and five individuals were arrested and charged, according to the NYPD spokesperson. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said in a statement this month that assaults against ICE officers rose by more than 400% from the same time last year. He placed part of the blame on politicians who “are careless with their politically motivated rhetoric.”
Trump is down but not out in court battle over Harvard’s foreign student visas
A federal judge upheld a court order blocking President Donald Trump from stripping Harvard University of its ability to sponsor international student visas. U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs on Thursday extended her earlier restraining order, which blocks the Trump administration from revoking Harvard’s certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, or SEVP. That certification allows colleges to sponsor international students for U.S. visas during their enrollment. Burroughs, an Obama appointee, said she would preserve the status quo while both sides confer and submit either a joint proposed preliminary injunction order or individual proposed orders. But the update from the court is not a loss for the Trump administration — at least not yet. TRUMP NOMINATES FORMER DEFENSE ATTORNEY EMIL BOVE FOR FEDERAL APPEALS COURT VACANCY At issue is whether the Trump administration has grounds to revoke Harvard’s SEVP certification. Trump officials have accused Harvard University of “fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,” according to a statement from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Legal experts told Fox News Digital that foreign students have far fewer protections than U.S. citizens, which puts Harvard at the government’s mercy as long as the Trump administration satisfies certain procedural requirements. Experts noted that the SEVP program falls squarely under the authority of DHS and ICE, giving the Trump administration broad discretion to certify, extend or revoke a university’s participation based on the conduct of its foreign student visa holders. STATE DEPARTMENT NOW SCRUTINIZING ALL VISA HOLDERS ASSOCIATED WITH HARVARD While U.S. citizens have First Amendment protected free speech rights, the same is not true for foreign students studying in the U.S., whose status is sponsored by their university. The intersection “of First Amendment [issues] with immigration law, at least to this extent, has really become a new thing under this administration,” Robert Shibley, the special counsel for campus advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told Fox News Digital. “Part of the complication here is that the government does have so much more leeway on foreign policy issues,” Shibley said. “However, I think in this case, there’s a pretty clear process laid out in the regulations for stripping a school of its ability to get foreign students to attend on visas — and simply demanding a certain amount of information from the school and stripping them immediately, which is what they originally said, not the process.” Shortly after court adjourned Thursday, the Trump administration gave Harvard 30 days to submit evidence and argue why its SEVP certification should not be revoked. It’s unclear whether that alone satisfies procedural requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act. The court must also consider what type of conduct foreign student visa holders are engaged in and whether these student visa holders are “systemically” engaged in serial violations of immigration law or are acting in support of foreign terrorist organizations, alleged foreign terrorist organizations or foreign totalitarian governments. “That gives DHS stake to investigate and reevaluate on an off-cycle basis, the SEVP certification and eligibility,” said Aram Gavoor, an associate dean at George Washington University Law School and a former Justice Department attorney. In this case, he said, DHS would have “significant authorities to authorize, regulate, certify and, if necessary, decertify, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program.” TRUMP ADMIN WORKING TO FLY BACK GUATEMALAN MIGRANT ERRONEOUSLY DEPORTED FROM US “And, in a number of circumstances, the ability of a university to operate its own educational institution with what it teaches and how it teaches that can — in certain circumstances — come into tension with the authority of the U.S. government to regulate immigration in the context of student exchange visitors,” Gavoor added. Lawyers for Harvard told the court that, if enacted, the revocation of its SEVP program would affect roughly 7,000 international students at the school at the undergraduate and post-graduate level, causing irreparable harm. They also claimed the action was a breach of administrative procedure, which requires the administration to grant a certain period of notice before revoking their SEVP credentials. “The revocation continues a series of government actions to retaliate against Harvard for our refusal to surrender our academic independence,” Harvard University President Alan Garber said Friday in a letter to the Harvard community. In the short term, the uncertainty could lead foreign students in the visa program to flee Harvard, seeking transfers to other universities that are not targeted by the Trump administration, experts told Fox News. Student visa holders are given roughly 180 days after their status is revoked to leave the country or risk violating the law, making the case of utmost importance for thousands of students. Legal experts noted the court is wading into largely uncharted territory. Asked how it might play out, many scholars pointed to a lack of precedent and offered no clear answer. “As with many things that Trump does, the answer is unclear, because it hasn’t been done before,” Josh Blackman, a law professor at South Texas College of Law, said. “No president has tried to do this before, so I don’t think there’s a clear precedent on the answer. “What I’ll say is this: Trump has basically accused Harvard of being a front for terrorism and emboldening terrorism,” he added. “And I think what they’re trying to do is determine if this institution can basically exist.” This was echoed by Gavoor, who said things need to play out between the Trump administration and Harvard before the court can properly decide if the government followed the law. “I think Harvard does need to comply with the off-cycle review of DHS’s SEVP certification,” Gavoor said. At the same time, he said, even if the Trump administration loses on the merits of this case, “there’s a point to be argued that it may have won as a function of policy,” he said. “That’s because it simply creates a chilling effect for students who would otherwise be attending or apply to Harvard University to be less inclined to do so or [causes
State Dept says DOGE’s changes will be permanent amid Musk’s departure
Elon Musk may no longer be the top dog at DOGE, but his reforms at the State Department will remain permanently in place, a senior agency official told Fox News Digital Thursday. As Musk’s 130-day mandate as a “special government employee” comes to an end, the billionaire entrepreneur announced his departure from DOGE in a post on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Wednesday night. During Musk’s time as the head of DOGE, he helped usher in big reforms at the State Department, which included an effective dismantlement of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), staff reductions, and the cancellation of various foreign aid programs due to lack of oversight, inefficiency, and other reasons. WHAT’S NEXT FOR DOGE AFTER ELON MUSK’S DEPARTURE? ‘ONLY JUST BEGUN’ The indication that Musk’s DOGE-related work at the State Department will continue was reinforced by a new reorganization effort at the Department of State announced by Secretary Marco Rubio on Thursday. The new reorganization plans are expected to cut or consolidate more than 300 of the State Department’s offices and bureaus as part of a massive overhaul aimed at streamlining the department, according to agency officials. The agency currently has about 700 offices, meaning the reorganization effort will slash, or join, more than 40% of its offices. “We have too many godd— offices,” a senior State Department official told Fox News Digital. “We’re trying to shrink offices rather than create them.” WHITE HOUSE DISCLOSES WHO WILL LEAD DOGE EFFORTS AFTER MUSK’S DEPARTURE The State Department submitted a notice to Congress Thursday disclosing plans for the reorganization overhaul, which senior State Department officials said will be the largest restructuring for the agency since the Cold War. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt added Thursday that many DOGE employees will remain part of the Trump administration, despite Musk winding down his work. “Surely the mission of Doge will continue,” Leavitt told reporters Thursday. “Many Doge employees are now political employees.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP One of Musk’s DOGE associates, Jeremy Lewin, has recently been tapped for a top role within the State Department. In April, he was placed at State for a different role. For his part, Lewin, however, disputes that he ever did any direct work for Musk’s DOGE.
Conservative legal experts slam latest Mahmoud Khalil ruling
A federal district judge on Wednesday said that the Trump administration’s effort to deport Mahmoud Khalil may be unconstitutional, but some conservative legal experts are not buying it. Khalil is a pro-Palestine, anti-Israel activist who led protests at Columbia University. An immigration judge recently said he could be deported, but U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz for the District of New Jersey said that the order is likely to be dismissed as “unconstitutionally vague.” Still, Khalil will remain in custody. “The district court held what we already knew: Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio’s weaponization of immigration law to punish Mahmoud and others like him is likely unconstitutional,” lawyers for Khalil said after the judge’s ruling. FEDERAL JUDGE SAYS ATTEMPTED DEPORTATION OF ANTI-ISRAEL RINGLEADER MAHMOUD KHALIL MAY BE UNCONSTITUTIONAL However, various conservative legal experts disagree with the judge. “A judge just handed Hamas a win on American soil. Mahmoud Khalil lied his way into our country, concealed ties to a foreign regime, and then led a pro-Hamas takeover at Columbia University. Now, a judicial activist wants to block his deportation? That’s not justice — it’s national suicide. President Trump has both the constitutional authority and the moral obligation to remove threats like Khalil,” Republican attorney Mehek Cooke told Fox News Digital in a statement. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE “The Supreme Court has made this power crystal clear. In Kleindienst v. Mandel (1972), the Court upheld the executive’s broad discretion in immigration matters. That authority was reaffirmed in Trump v. Hawaii (2018), where the Court ruled that the President has sweeping power to exclude noncitizens deemed detrimental to U.S. interests,” she continued. ANTI-ISRAEL RINGLEADER MAHMOUD KHALIL’S FREE SPEECH LAWSUIT AGAINST US GOVERNMENT MUST BE HEARD: JUDGE “By declaring the Immigration and Nationality Act ‘unconstitutionally vague,’ Judge Farbiarz isn’t interpreting the law — he’s rewriting it. That violates the separation of powers and dangerously ties the hands of our Commander in Chief. Citizenship is a privilege — not a sanctuary for liars and Hamas sympathizers. I am confident this will be overturned on appeal,” Cooke added. Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said it is a “ridiculous, meritless claim by a rogue federal judge,” and said that even though Kahlil is a legal resident of the U.S., he can still face consequences. “Aliens have no constitutional right to be in the U.S. Moreover, under federal immigration law, 8 U.S.C. 1227, aliens like Khalil, including permanent resident aliens, can be removed if the alien ‘endorses or espouses terrorist activity’ or support ‘a terrorist organization.’ Khalil’s blatant support for Hamas, a designated terrorist organization, makes him immediately deportable. This is another biased, partisan judge refusing to abide by federal immigration law and interfering in the president’s constitutional and statutory authority,” he told Fox News Digital in a statement. LAWYERS FOR COLUMBIA ANTI-ISRAEL ACTIVIST MAHMOUD KHALIL BLAST RUBIO EVIDENCE LETTER: ‘TWO PAGES, THAT’S IT’ The White House also condemned the ruling, continuing its frequent clashes with federal judges over immigration policy. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Mahmoud Khalil was given the privilege of coming to America to study, but he squandered that opportunity by siding with Hamas terrorists and organizing protests that disrupted college classes and harassed Jewish-American students. Secretary of State Rubio has the right to revoke green cards or visas for any individuals who are adversarial to United States foreign policy and national security interests,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement. Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.