...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...'s attempt to stop Harvard University from accepting international students.
The judge said foreign students should be protected while the legal fight continues. This comes as Trump continues to pressure top universities over what he calls political bias.
Thousands of Harvard students in crimson-trimmed gowns celebrated their graduation on Thursday.
Trump has made Harvard the central target of his campaign against elite US universities, which he has also threatened with funding freezes over what he claims is liberal bias and anti-Semitism.
Judge Allison Burroughs said she would later issue a preliminary injunction that ''gives some protection'' to international students while the two sides argue over the legality of Trump's position.
''Our students are terrified, and we're already having people transfer to other universities,'' Harvard's lawyer Ian Gershengorn said during the hearing in Boston.
In an eleventh-hour filing before the hearing, the Trump administration issued a formal notice of intent to withdraw Harvard's ability to enrol foreign students — triggering the official process.
The filing gave Harvard 30 days to produce evidence explaining why it should not be blocked from hosting and enrolling international students — who currently make up 27 per cent of Harvard's student body.
Burroughs had already temporarily halted the policy and extended that pause on Thursday, pending the new injunction. She said she would examine whether Trump officials had acted with ''a retaliatory motive.''
A law professor in the packed courtroom said the Trump administration was prolonging the suffering of students.
''Harvard is in this purgatory. What is an international student to do?'' said the Harvard Law School graduate, who declined to be named.