US Judge Blocks Trump Rule Limiting Stay For Foreign Students, Journalists

A US federal judge has blocked a Trump administration rule that would have limited how long foreign students, exchange visitors and journalists could stay in the United States without applying for extensions.

Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued the ruling on Monday, September 14, a day before the new rule was scheduled to take effect.

The rule, introduced by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), would have ended the longstanding system allowing foreign students in good standing to remain in the US for the duration of their academic programmes.

Under the new policy, F-1 student and J-1 exchange visas would generally have been limited to four years, while I visas for foreign journalists would have allowed stays of up to 240 days.

Students and other visa holders who needed to remain longer would have had to apply for extensions.

Saylor said DHS had failed to adequately justify the policy change or consider less restrictive alternatives.

He also rejected the department’s argument that the new system was necessary to address national security concerns, describing its reasoning as exceptionally weak.

The judge said the existing system had operated for nearly five decades and had allowed millions of foreign students and researchers to study and work in the United States.

He warned that the new restrictions could cause significant damage to US universities and the wider economy, particularly institutions that rely heavily on international students.

The ruling followed a lawsuit brought by a coalition of unions and higher education organisations challenging the DHS rule.

The Trump administration defended the proposed changes as necessary to prevent abuse of the visa system.

DHS General Counsel James Percival criticised the ruling, arguing that the existing system allowed foreign students to remain in the US for decades through repeated enrolment.

The judge’s order means the new restrictions cannot take effect while the legal challenge continues.

The existing rules therefore remain in place for now.