Judge Blocks Trump Four-Year Cap on Student Visas
Judge Blocks Trump Four-Year Cap on Student Visas
The News
A federal judge blocked the Trump administration on Monday from enforcing a new Homeland Security rule that would have capped how long foreign students and journalists can stay in the United States.
U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV, sitting in Massachusetts, issued a preliminary injunction against the rule, which would have limited student visas to four years and required extensions after that.
Saylor wrote that the administration's reasons for the rule were "exceptionally weak," according to The New York Times, and called the government's justification "absurd," according to NOTUS.
The Washington Post reported the ruling landed one day before the regulation was set to take effect.
Timeline
Saylor holds a hearing on the challenge and is openly skeptical of the government's proposal, The Boston Globe reported.
Saylor orders Homeland Security not to carry out the rule, issuing a preliminary injunction that halts it while the lawsuit proceeds in federal court in Boston.
The date the rule had been scheduled to take effect, per The Washington Post; The Epoch Times reported it was set to kick in at midnight.
Reactions
The Washington Times described the ruling as "a barrage of withering shots at the Trump administration" over what it characterized as a "catastrophic" policy.
The Justice Department has argued the existing visa system is outdated and must be reformed to "safeguard national security."
The plaintiff universities argued the four-year cap would fall hardest on doctoral programs, which average more than five years to complete. MIT's presidential advisor for science policy wrote that the change would "diminish American leadership in science and technology."
What's Next
The injunction keeps the rule on ice while the case moves forward in Boston federal court. The court has not decided whether to strike the rule down permanently or merely delay it.
Also unresolved: how the ruling applies to the separate restrictions the rule placed on foreign journalists, who were covered by the same policy.
More
For years, foreign students could remain enrolled in U.S. programs without a fixed visa time limit. The DHS rule would have replaced that with a four-year clock and an extension requirement.
The Numbers
International students made up 40% of MIT's graduate student body last year.
NAFSA reported a 21% drop in doctoral program applications, and international student applications fell 10% in the most recent admissions cycle.
Massachusetts faced a projected $284 million economic decline under the rule.
Poll
Should foreign student visas be capped at four years?
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