A federal judge in Massachusetts has blocked a Trump administration rule that would have imposed fixed time limits on visas for international students, academics and foreign journalists.
Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV ruled that the administration’s justification for replacing the existing system was arbitrary and unlawful. The current arrangements allow international students in the United States to remain until they complete their studies.
Under the proposed international student visa rule, students, researchers, professors and other academics would have been limited to four years in the country. The change would have had a significant impact on many PhD students, whose courses can last longer.
The measure would also have restricted students from pursuing a second qualification at the same level, changing their field of study or transferring to another university. Foreign journalists would have been given visas lasting only 240 days.
Students and journalists could have applied for extensions, but decisions would have been left to officials at the Department of Homeland Security. A refusal could not be appealed, Judge Saylor said.
In his 48-page ruling, Judge Saylor said officials had relied “almost entirely on a small handful of anecdotes”, none of which involved incidents that the rule would prevent or even reduce.
He warned that the likely damage to US higher education and the economy could be “catastrophic”, arguing that the restrictions would discourage international students from attending American universities. The administration had estimated that compliance costs alone would exceed 250 million dollars in the first year.
“Notwithstanding the scale of the likely harm,” Judge Saylor wrote, “the government’s proffered rationales for the rule are exceptionally weak”. He said the claim that the measure was needed to protect national security “borders on the absurd”, adding that officials had not explained how a four-year limit would stop people obtaining visas through fraud.
The judge was particularly critical of the provisions affecting journalists, saying the Department of Homeland Security had offered no evidence of national security concerns or fraud and abuse, nor any reasoned explanation for the policy.
He said the government’s arguments raised questions about whether the rule’s real purpose was to increase official control over academic institutions and the press, rather than to protect national security or the country’s borders. He also warned of “the possibilities for abuse” in the visa-extension process.
The Department of Homeland Security did not say whether it would appeal. In a statement, it said: “if the media really cared about legitimate international students, they would be thanking President Trump for cracking down on the rampant fraud to ensure only those truly intending to study in the United States are given the privilege.”
The ruling noted that there was no evidence of widespread fraud by immigrants posing as students.
