A federal judge blocked the Department of Homeland Security from imposing new caps on visas for groups including foreign students and journalists, saying the change was “likely to be catastrophic” to the higher education system and American economy.
Though holders of such visas have long been allowed to remain in the country for the duration of their studies or assignments, the department proposed a rule last year that limited student and exchange visas to the length of the participant’s program, with a maximum stay of four years. Journalists with the "I" visas were limited to stays of 240 days, though journalists from China were limited to 90 days.
Trump administration officials have argued that a “significant increase” in the number of nonimmigrants
coming to the United States through the F, J and I visa classifications “poses a challenge to the Department’s ability to monitor and oversee" them. The changes, according to the department, would reduce the potential for people to “exploit these programs."
The latest rules became final in July, and a coalition of groups – including the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts and the American Federation of Teachers – suedin August to block the changes. The groups accused the department of failing to address concerns raised in the more than 20,000 public comments it received on the rules, including those related to First Amendment rights.
U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV’s Sept. 14 opinion blocked the rules from taking effect while litigation continues. Under the rule, Saylor wrote, it was “not difficult to imagine how that system might be abused to punish those whose viewpoints or research are disfavored by the officials making the decision – or, indeed, punish disfavored institutions.”
The department criticized the decision in an email to USA TODAY.
“Come on a student visa, take one class per semester, and stay here for decades,” DHS general counsel James Percival said. “According to Judge Dennis Saylor, ICE must permit this rampant abuse of our immigration system.”
Rules would let DHS deny visas 'for no reason or any reason,' judge says
Saylor called the department’s reasoning for the rules "exceptionally weak” and said the notion that it is necessary for national security “borders on the absurd.”
He also said the department had not thoroughly outlined how it would consider extension requests or what changes would be made to accommodate the influx of such requests, adding that a DHS denial is “entirely discretionary and unappealable.”
“In other words, a DHS official – based on limited and vague criteria, and with no possibility of appeal – will have the power to cut short the academic, research or teaching activities of any non-U.S. citizen for no reason or any reason,” Saylor wrote.
The organizations involved in the lawsuit welcomed Saylor’s decision in a joint news release on Sept. 14.
"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,” Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration President and CEO Miriam Feldblum said.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, called the decision “proof positive that the Trump administration’s proposed limits on how long international scholars have to complete their studies is arbitrary and hostile.”
Contributing: Michelle Del Rey, USA TODAY
BrieAnna Frank's role covering First Amendment issues at USA TODAY is made possible by a collaboration among Freedom Forum, Journalism Funding Partners and the USA TODAY Network. Freedom Forum does not provide editorial input. Reach BrieAnna at bjfrank@usatoday.com and @brieannafrank on X and Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Judge blocks DHS from capping foreign student, journalist visas
