For Matthew, 23, who graduated from Harvard later this week, thinking about his future is like "Along the way" Indiana Jones”.

A humanities student from the UK explained: “You really can’t see the other side, but you know it will get to somewhere…you really don’t know if it’s stable and can trust it.”

This uncertainty hit many international students last Thursday when the Department of Homeland Security motioned to ban them from attending Harvard. The plan was temporarily blocked by a court order a day later - marking a serious escalation in the months-long battle between President Donald Trump's administration and the Ivy League Academy.

Harvard University, the alma mater of eight U.S. presidents and the fortress built by the country, has become the center of Trump's attack on higher education.

The president promised last year on the campaign that once he returned to office, he would accept what he called the institution “turning our students into communists, terrorists and sympathizers in many, many different aspects.”

His administration has begun to deliver on that commitment, receiving some government grants from a handful of top U.S. universities, including Harvard, Columbia and Princeton. In many cases, he and his administration claimed that these institutions failed to calm anti-Semitism. President’s critics argue that ongoing freedom of speech is more common.

Meanwhile, immigration and customs enforcement in the United States have arrested across campus. The most notable case is the case of Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil, who was detained for his pro-Palestinian radicalism. He remains in the Louisiana detention center.

But Harvard obviously disturbed the president - and became the target of his most radical attack. This may be a response to college posture. Unlike Columbia, which agreed to reorganize part of its governance after the Trump administration cut $400 million, Harvard rejected all the requirements Trump demanded, including reforming its governance structure and enrollment process, and abandoning detailed records for all international students.

"Harvard has brought these consequences to itself - they promote and allow violence on campus," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News shortly after announcing a ban on foreign students.

The ban on foreign students, coupled with the new threat of Trump cutting billions of dollars into federal funds to colleges, has caused a warning of even one of the deepest Ivy League schools.

On the surface, it’s hard to say it’s hard to say in Harvard University’s Cambridge outside Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

A few days after the announcement, on Saturday, Harvard's mood was the idyllic green space at the heart of the university - happy and cheerful.

The school year is over, but proud parents in smart costumes hold graduations on campus, while final year students are scattered in the “Senior Week” celebrations.

Below the surface, however, several domestic and international students described “obvious” anxiety about Trump’s deepening of the deadlock and its consequences.

Harvard Law School graduate student Tobi is not surprised by the latest attack that surprised him.

Toby said Harvard University has become Trump's "pawn". He and his classmates are "pessimistic and concerned" about what happens to their international friends.

"It's like a Damakel's sword hanging over us," said Harvard Law School British student John. He didn't want to use his real name.

Gaby, a Harvard Graduate School of Design, said he felt "incredibly frustrating" and believed the anti-Semitism accusations were a "Trojan horse" of the Trump administration's attack on universities.

Gabe said he “has never felt unsafe as a Jewish student of international students.” But other Jewish students at American universities, including Harvard, were frightened, and leaders said anti-Semitism has become a problem on campus, especially in Israel's protests following the Gaza War after Hamas attacked Hamas on October 7, 2023.

About 7,000 miles away, a young Pakistani man who started at Harvard Kennedy School this fall is not sure about his future now. He also asked to keep his name. He said he was already frustrated with Cambridge considering Trump’s remarks about international students and foreigners and stricter visa requirements.

On Monday, the president raised his ante again and announced in a social media post that he was considering depriving Harvard University of $300 million in grants. In another article, he mentioned what he considered to be a "radical madman" among international students.

A senior administration official said the General Services Administration will send a letter to federal agencies on Tuesday asking them to "determine any contract with Harvard University and whether it can be cancelled or redirected elsewhere."

While the Harvard administration articulates how to respond to Trump’s latest attack, some students have expressed support for its efforts to resist government pressure.

"I think people are actually frank about it, surprising the government's position," John said.

Matthew, the British, and another of many students who would not want to name them, said, "He was very shocked by the fact that Columbia just turned over and died, and I was very worried that Harvard would do it." Now, he is "really proud" of his position at the university.

But Sarah, a 25-year-old home student at Harvard Graduate School of Design, said the university should do more protection this year to protect its international students.

She described a feeling of "anxiety in the studio" because the Harvard leader was "not incredibly transparent about a lot of what was going on."

If Trump succeeds in narrowing down Harvard’s international student body, it will mark a major blow to one of the world’s leading factories. Current heads of state heads of state who travel to Harvard include Mark Carney in Canada, Giriakos Misatakis in Greece and Lawrence Huang in Singapore.

Komala Anupindi, 23, of Kennedy School, said her understanding of policy solutions is richer for the perspective her international peers brought to the classroom.

British John said foreign students at Harvard University were "very important to... a country that expands people's minds."

As Harvard students deepen their anxiety in recent months, so has the connection between Cambridge International and domestic population.

"You'll be shocked how many times you've received a marriage proposal," Matthew joked. "You know, that's good, but unfortunately, I don't think it's working with the green card system anymore."