Harvard Says It Will Comply With DHS Request to Hand Over Employment Forms

The Department of Homeland Security wants to inspect federal I-9 forms for Harvard employees.

Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., on July 4, 2025. Learner Liu/The Epoch Times

Harvard University said on July 29 that it will hand over employment forms for thousands of university staff members as requested by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) but will not share records for those employed in student-only roles.

In an email to employees, viewed by The Epoch Times, the Ivy League school’s human resources office said it received a notice of inspection (NOI) and related subpoena from the DHS on July 8 seeking to inspect federal I-9 forms and supporting documentation for Harvard employees.

The I-9, or Employment Eligibility Verification, is used to verify the identity and employment authorization of an individual hired to work in the United States. The I-9 process is managed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which is a component of the DHS.

Harvard said that when it received the notice of inspection, it “appeared to seek information about a few dozen employees in Massachusetts Hall.”

“Although Harvard produced the information for those employees (with the exception of student-employees), DHS notified us that the NOI received on July 8 applies to all current Harvard employees and any individual employed by the University in the last 12 months,” the email stated.

“This NOI is separate and apart from the three Department of Homeland Security administrative subpoenas issued to Harvard on July 8, 2025, which were posted to the Harvard International Office website.”

Harvard said it will comply with the request from the Department of Homeland Security but will not produce information on students who are currently or were previously employed in roles open only to students, as the university is evaluating whether the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law governing access to education records, permits their disclosure.

“We have asked DHS to confirm that the records produced in response to this notice for any individual will be securely maintained by DHS and not shared outside DHS, that the documents will only be accessed by DHS personnel authorized to inspect such records, and that DHS will only use these records for the purposes authorized by law,” the email stated.

In its notice of inspection, DHS told Harvard it intends to assess the records in order to assess the school’s “compliance with the federal laws and regulations applicable to employment eligibility verification.”

“This inspection will cover all your current employees as of the date of service of this Notice, and employees who were terminated within the twelve months prior to the date of service of this NOI,” the notice stated.

“This inspection is for employees employed by the above captioned during the requested time period at the following location(s): Massachusetts Hall, 11 Harvard Yard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 United States.”

The DHS warned that failure to provide the requested documents may lead to civil or criminal penalties.

Harvard said that although the government “does not ordinarily ask an employer to disclose all of its employees’ Form I-9s and their supporting materials,” it may, in its discretion, “issue an all-employees request.”

The Epoch Times has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment.

Harvard is embroiled in a legal battle with the Trump administration to have billions of dollars in funding for the school restored.

The government withheld the funds earlier this year after accusing the university of failing to comply with its demands for a series of changes, including ending its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

Harvard has sued the administration to unblock the funding.

DHS has also served the university with subpoenas compelling it to hand over disciplinary records for foreign students dating back to Jan. 1, 2020. Those subpoenas came after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanded that it provide information about the alleged “criminality and misconduct of foreign students on its campus.”

In a statement at the time, the university said it was evaluating the subpoenas and would “comply with the laws of the United States and uphold the University’s policies.”

In May, Noem ordered her agency to terminate the school’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification for allegedly failing to create a safe campus environment for Jewish students.

A federal judge in Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction in June blocking DHS from terminating that program, after Harvard sued, arguing that the termination was unconstitutional and an “unprecedented and retaliatory attack on academic freedom.”