WASHINGTON, Sept 15: A US federal judge has temporarily blocked a Trump administration rule that sought to impose stricter limits on the duration of visas for foreign students and journalists in the country.
The ruling by Massachusetts District Judge F Dennis Saylor IV came on Monday, a day before the new rules were scheduled to take effect, providing relief to international students, including many from India.
Saylor said the policy would likely cause “catastrophic” damage to the US economy and higher education system, rejecting the government’s argument that the restrictions were necessary to protect the country.
The judge also rejected the administration’s request to limit the relief to the plaintiffs, saying that doing so would require parallel regulatory systems and could lead to inconsistent decisions over which students and institutions were covered by the order.
The preliminary injunction halts implementation of the rule while the legal challenge proceeds in court.
The plaintiffs represent nearly 600 public and private institutions. However, Saylor noted that there are more than 5,000 higher-education institutions across the United States.
The rule, finalised in July, imposed a four-year limit on visas for international students and exchange visitors, while journalists would face a 240-day limit. Chinese journalists would have been subject to a 90-day limit under the new policy.
The rules were scheduled to come into effect on Tuesday.
Under the policy, students and journalists could apply for extensions, but approval would have been at the discretion of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials, with no provision to appeal a denial.
Several organisations, primarily representing the higher education sector and labour unions, had approached the court seeking to strike down the rule.
Harvard University President Alan M Garber had criticised the four-year limit, calling it “odd” given that a typical PhD programme in the US takes at least six years.
The DHS, however, argued that the restrictions would help curb visa fraud and make it easier to prevent people from overstaying in the country.
Saylor also raised concerns that the rule could be misused against journalists critical of the government or DHS officials, noting the possibility that their visas could be denied renewal.
The judge said the weak connection between the rule and its stated objectives raised legitimate questions about whether its actual purpose could include undisclosed goals, such as greater government control over academic institutions and the press.
