A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a rule that would limit how long international students and foreign journalists can remain in the US without applying for extensions.
US District Judge F. Dennis Saylor in Boston issued the order a day before the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rule was scheduled to take effect. The case was brought by a coalition of unions and higher education advocacy groups.
Saylor said DHS had adopted the policy based on “exceptionally weak” rationales. The agency had cited national security and the need to prevent fraud in the visa programme.
However, the judge said DHS had failed to meet its legal obligations to address concerns about the policy change and consider less burdensome alternatives.
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
What the blocked rule proposed
The rule, adopted by DHS in July, sought to replace the system of issuing visas to foreign students for their “duration of status”. The US has followed that system for nearly five decades.
Under the proposed policy, F visas for international students and J visas for cultural exchange visitors would have been limited to four years. I visas for foreign journalists would have been capped at 240 days, although they can currently last for several years.
About 1.6 million people currently hold F visas, while another 500,000 have J visas.
Saylor said the existing system had allowed tens of millions of foreign students and researchers to come to the US. He said this had contributed to “groundbreaking research in science, medicine, and technology, substantial economic growth, and a host of other benefits, often on a vast scale.”
The judge also noted that universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard have large numbers of foreign students, particularly at the graduate level.
Judge warns of impact on universities
Saylor said the rule would substantially reduce the overall number of foreign students, professors and journalists in the US.
He added that major research universities could face hundreds of millions of dollars in costs and lower enrolment if the rule took effect.
“The damage to the higher education system and to the economy of the United States is likely to be catastrophic,” Saylor wrote.
Miriam Feldblum, head of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, one of the plaintiffs, said the ruling recognised the harm the rule could cause to international students, universities and the US economy.
“While the case continues, this relief preserves the longstanding system that enables our colleges and universities – and our country – to attract, educate, and retain global talent,” Feldblum said.
