In the lawsuit filed early Friday in federal court in Boston, the Ivy League school called out the government’s ban as a violation of the Constitution and warned that it would have an “immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders.”

Some of Harvard’s sports teams would be virtually wiped out by a Trump administration decision that would make the Ivy League school ineligible for international student visas.

The Trump administration’s move to bar Harvard University from enrolling international students has ricocheted across China, with officials and commentators seeing it through one lens: the growing rivalry between Washington and Beijing.

College officials fear that President Trump may use international enrollment as leverage to demand changes on campuses elsewhere.