by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. July 17, 2025

The 47th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, continues to make controversial policies in his first few months in office, with one notable policy being his move to impede the entry of certain foreign nationals seeking to study at universities such as Harvard University.

In June, the Trump Administration announced that, as a national security measure, it would be preventing nationals of the People’s Republic of China from exploiting the Student Exchange Visa Program (SEVP) for improper purposes.

The new 6-month policy, which could be extended for a longer period, is suspending entry for any new Harvard student as a nonimmigrant under F (Academic Student), M (Vocational/Technical Student), or J (Exchange Visitor) visas. Also, the administration is considering the revocation of the visas of international students who are currently attending Harvard as well as other elite universities such as Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Yale University

Harvard University annually hosts over 21,000 students, with 27% or 7,000 students being from foreign countries. Concerned Belizean nationalist, 72-year-old Sylvia Waight, visited Amandala today to share her concern about the possible plight of Belizeans studying abroad who may be affected by this new US policy. In Belize, a handful of students have gotten the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend an Ivy League institution in the US, and Ms. Waight mentioned the likes of Ashton Tillett, Angel Navidad, and Signa Mahung, who are currently living abroad after completing their studies. The number of (if any) Belizeans who are presently attending such institutions to which the new policy applies is not known.  

“My concern is that the current US President is trying to infringe on Harvard’s management in dictating about discontinuation of participation of foreign students. I think if the US President has his way, that it would curtail the studies of our Belizean students,” said Ms. Waight.

After the decision, the Ivy League institution decided to sue the Trump Administration, which has led to a federal judge halting the president’s attempt to block the entry of international students who are to attend that university.