As Harvard University remains the focus of the Trump administration’s ire, the fate of its international students hangs in balance, including Cleo Carney, the daughter of the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
A little over a week ago, the Trump administration cancelled Harvard’s ability to enroll international students, leaving current foreign students to transfer to other colleges or risk losing their visa status.
“They have lost their Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law,” Homeland Security Secretary
on May 22. “Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.”
This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus.
It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments… pic.twitter.com/12hJWd1J86— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) May 22, 2025
In return, the university sued the administration and won its initial court fight. The university on its website notes: “The May 29 court decision allows the University to continue enrolling international students and scholars while the case moves forward. Harvard will continue to take steps to protect the rights of our international students and scholars, members of our community who are vital to the University’s academic mission and community — and whose presence here benefits our country immeasurably.”
For the academic year 2024-2025, the Ivy League university had
6,793 international students enrolled
. As for the Canadians at Harvard, the
unofficial statistics of scholars and students
on its various campus roughly has ranged between 600 to under 800 over the years.
A first-year student, Cleo is pursuing bachelor’s in economics at the prestigious university, one her
father graduated from in 1987
. After Justin Trudeau stepped down as Prime Minister,
Cleo introduced her father
as the newly elected party leader in March at the Liberal Convention in Ottawa.
A sustainability REP for Harvard’s Resource Efficiency Program, Cleo also serves as a board member for Bluedot Institute, a climate-focused non-profit. “When she is not cooking or running,”
reads her Harvard bio
, “she is talking about the need for increased investment in the strategic mining industry.”
Why is the Trump administration making this move against Harvard?
“The White House confirmed Carney, along with other international students, would get the boot if the administration gets its way,” Gabrielle Fahmy for the
New York Post
wrote on Saturday.
“The President’s goal is clear: we will put America first, and that means our policies on everything from trade to immigration should benefit Americans, not other nations at the expense of our people,” a senior administration official told the New York Post.
National Post has reached out to the Prime Minister’s Office for comment.
As Cleo’s return to Harvard in September remains undecided, the
academic future of her siblings — Tess, Amelia and Sasha
— less so. Sasha graduated from Yale University in 2023, Amelia reportedly from the University of Edinburgh last year, and Tess has noticeably stayed out of the public eye.
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