Lawsuit seeks to block Trump visa restrictions on students, journalists

A group of unions and advocacy groups filed a lawsuit on Tuesday seeking to block the Trump administration from enforcing new visa restrictions that would limit how long foreign students and journalists can stay in the U.S. without applying for extensions.

The Department of Homeland Security’s rule creates fixed periods of admission for people in F status as international students, J status as exchange visitors and I status as foreign journalists.

People in those classifications generally have been admitted for the duration of their studies, exchange programs or qualifying media assignments rather than until a fixed date.

Under the new rule, set to take effect on September 15, F students and J exchange visitors generally would be admitted for the length of their program, for no more than four years at a time, and would have to seek an extension to remain longer.

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The period of admission for most foreign journalists in I status, which currently can last years, would be limited to 240 days, while I-status journalists presenting PRC passports, excluding Hong Kong and Macau SAR passport holders, generally would be admitted for up to 90 days. Journalists may seek extensions of up to 240 days, or 90 days for the covered PRC passport holders, but no longer than the length of their assignment.

In the lawsuit, the coalition said the new changes would be “catastrophic” for universities, international students and scholars and the U.S.

“They will discourage foreign students and other nonimmigrants from coming to the United States, repelled by the intolerable prospect of losing lawful immigration status partway through their studies,” the groups said in the lawsuit.

The rule does not require international students to complete their studies within four years; students in longer programs may apply to extend their stay. It separately imposes new restrictions on transfers and changes in educational objectives, including limits affecting some graduate-level students.

Foreign students, notably, typically pay more tuition and receive fewer scholarship opportunities, meaning the proposed rule may have a financial impact on U.S. colleges if it leads to a dip in international enrollment.

“Students will lose opportunities, schools will lose talent, and the public will lose billions of dollars of economic contributions supported by one of the United States’ top exports: education,” the complaint reads.

The Department of Homeland Security dismissed the lawsuit as “performative,” arguing that the changes would root out fraud without offering evidence of the alleged fraud.

DHS has said the fixed periods of admission will allow immigration officials to periodically assess whether visa holders continue to comply with the terms of their status.

“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,” a department spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters.

NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss, whose organization represents thousands of media members in the U.S., called the rule an attack on journalists.

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“In addition to attacking international students and scholars, the Trump administration is again attacking journalists by also shortening the duration of I Visas, which support the important work of international journalists working in the United States,” Schleuss said in a statement. “Our First Amendment makes it clear that the United States is supposed to be a champion of a free press, not an opponent. These rule changes are just another attempt by this administration to chill reporting done by talented journalists.”

“Our democracy depends on journalism and journalism dependents on journalists of all stripes. We are proud to stand with other partners and fight these  illegal rule changes intended to weaken our democracy,” he added.

DHS previously said that requiring regular assessments for foreigners to remain in the U.S. for a longer period would allow the agency to conduct “proper oversight” and reduce the number of people in the country on visas.

Reuters contributed to this report.