The move affects more than 7,000 currently enrolled students, around a quarter of the student body, Harvard said in a lawsuit to overturn the restrictions, adding that it would have a “devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders.”
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in her letter announcing the ban that foreign students must transfer out of the university to maintain their visa statuses.
The 23-year-old princess, who is the eldest child of Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, has completed the first year of grad school but will not finish for another year. She graduated from the U.K.’s Oxford University last year.
She’s first in line to inherit the throne, after Belgium’s constitution was changed in 1991 to abolish male-only succession.
The royal palace’s communications director told Reuters they were “analyzing” the situation “and will let things settle. A lot can still happen in the coming days and weeks.”
A spokesperson for the Belgian monarchy did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for comment.
The Trump administration’s ban marks an escalation of its pressure campaign on Harvard and higher education institutions across the country, which it has accused of being hotbeds of antisemitism and left-wing ideology, and has involved visa terminations and federal funding cuts worth billions of dollars.
