US judge blocks Trump rule capping visas for students and journalists
A federal judge in Boston on Monday blocked the Trump administration from implementing a new rule that would limit how long foreign students, exchange visitors and journalists can remain in the US without seeking extensions.
US District Judge F. Dennis Saylor ruled in favour of a coalition of unions and higher education advocacy groups, just a day before the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rule was due to take effect.advertisement❮❯ Read Full StoryJUDGE CALLS DHS RATIONALE ‘EXCEPTIONALLY WEAK’Saylor said DHS had relied on “exceptionally weak” reasoning while adopting the policy. The agency had cited national security and efforts to prevent fraud in the visa system, but the judge found that it had failed to properly address concerns surrounding the policy change or consider less burdensome alternatives.
The judge, appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, said the rule would overturn a system that the US had used for nearly five decades, under which foreign students could remain in the country for the “duration of status” of their programmes.
He said the system had enabled tens of millions of foreign students and researchers to study and work in the US, contributing to major advances in science, medicine and technology, as well as significant economic growth.
The rule adopted by DHS in July sought to replace the existing system with fixed limits on how long certain foreign nationals could remain in the US.
Under the rule, F visas for international students and J visas for cultural exchange visitors would be capped at four years. I visas issued to foreign journalists, which can currently remain valid for years, would be limited to 240 days.
Around 1.6 million people currently hold F visas, while another 500,000 have J visas. Saylor noted that major research universities, including MIT and Harvard, have significant numbers of foreign students, particularly at the graduate level.
The judge warned that the new policy could lead to falling enrolment and hundreds of millions of dollars in costs for major universities.
“The damage to the higher education system and to the economy of the United States is likely to be catastrophic,” Saylor wrote.- EndsPublished By: Zafar ZaidiPublished On: Sep 15, 2026 05:01 IST
