'Hard way' for Harvard begins: Trump admin slaps university with subpoenas; heat turns up over foreign student misconduct

US President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday intensified its action against Harvard University as the department of homeland security (DHS) sent subpoenas to the varsity over information related to the criminality and misconduct of foreign students on its campus.

Taking to X, DHS said that it tried "to do things the easy way with Harvard", but it refused to cooperate. Now, "we have to do things the hard way," it added. "If Harvard won’t defend the interests of its students, then we will," DHS said in a post on X.

Trump administration has been accusing several universities, including Harvard, of allowing foreign students "to abuse their visa privileges and advocate for violence and terrorism on campus." This is the latest move by Trump administration against the elite university. Fox News Digital, citing sources at DHS said that sending subpoenas was the only option left with the agency as the university repeatedly "refused non-coercive requests to provide the information." It refused to comply with a subpoena; it may face heavy consequences, including civil penalties, criminal charges, contempt of court, and/or audits and inspections of an organisation.

The university had previously been asked by DHS secretary Kristi Noem in April to submit detailed information on foreign student activities. However, DHS has deemed Harvard's response as "insufficient, incomplete, and unacceptable."In late May, DHS took the extraordinary step of moving to revoke Harvard's SEVP certification, a decision that, if upheld, would prevent the university from enrolling international students and issuing F-1 student visas, impacting nearly a quarter of its student population.