The TOI correspondent in Washington: Daughters of Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney and China’s leader Xi Jinping are among Harvard students being targeted for expulsion by MAGA principals amid the Trump administration’s drive to tame liberal US universities seen as being out of sync with the current White House outlook. MAGA-aligned outlets reported over the weekend that the Trump administration is examining the prospect of expelling Carney’s daughter Cleo, a social studies major at Harvard with a record of liberal activism. She was reportedly arrested at a pro-Palestinian rally in London some months ago, and although she has been flying under the radar at Harvard, the fact that she introduced her father at the Liberal Party convention in March 2025 and is active in environmental advocacy, is sufficient to trigger MAGA, which has taken the cue from its supremo Trump to attack Canada and all things Canadian.Also in the MAGA crosshairs is Xi Mingze, daughter of China’s leader Xi JInping, who graduated from Harvard under a pseudonym in 2014 with B.A. in psychology and is said to have returned to the institution recently for higher studies. MAGA trolls have been casing the university and social media for signs of Xi Mingze presence amid growing antipathy towards foreign students, particularly Chinese. The “womanhunt” involving the leaders of Canada and China comes on the heels of the Trump administration’s blanket ban on foreign students coming to Harvard, leaving current students to transfer to other colleges or risk losing their visa status. “They (Harvard) have lost their Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted said last week, adding, “Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.”Separately, MAGA trolls continued to attack Megha Vemuri, an Indian-American undergrad who attacked MIT’s ties with the Israeli military and expressed support for the besieged in Gaza during her commencement speech, triggering MIT to ban her from the graduating ceremony. “MIT supports free expression but can’t allow anyone in disrupting an important Institute ceremony,” the school said, even as Vemuri found vocal support from the liberal spectrum. Although the Trump administration’s crackdown on Harvard and other liberal schools was ostensibly aimed at curtailing on-campus political activism by foreign students, particularly against Israel, the repression has taken on broader contours. There is now an all-out MAGA movement against students from across the world with the argument foreign students are “stealing” seats and jobs that should go to Americans first. Foreign students are coveted by American academia, both for the moolah ($ 44 billion) and mental acuity they bring in. It is generally acknowledged that education, not guns or butter, has been America’s greatest export. Even moderate Republicans are aghast by the MAGA venom against international students. “Shutting out foreign students from @Harvard, the best university in the world, is a huge mistake. We lose their brainpower and the way they challenge and inspire our own students,” former Ohio Governor John Kasich said last week, noting that many alumni return home as leaders with a deeper understanding of America. and that benefits the US.Prominent Indians who graduated from Harvard include Anand Mahindra, Rahul Bajaj, P. Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, and Naina Lal Kidwai. Hundreds more have attended executive courses at Harvard to hone their leadership skills.
