Politics

Judge blocks Trump limits on how long foreign students and journalists can stay in US

AI SUMMARY

A federal judge has blocked a Trump administration rule that would have limited the length of stay for foreign students and journalists in the US.

US district judge F Dennis Saylor blocked the Department of Homeland Security rule in Boston.
The ruling came in favor of a coalition of unions and higher education advocacy groups a day before the rule took effect.
Saylor stated that the Department of Homeland Security adopted the policy based on exceptionally weak rationales.
The agency cited national security and visa fraud prevention, but failed to address concerns or consider less burdensome alternatives.
DHS general counsel James Percival criticized the ruling, stating it permits rampant abuse of the immigration system.
The blocked rule would have capped F and J visas at four years and I visas for journalists at 240 days.
About 1.6 million people currently hold F visas and 500,000 hold J visas.
Major research universities like MIT and Harvard have large percentages of foreign graduate students.
Saylor noted the rule would have caused hundreds of millions of dollars in costs and catastrophic damage to higher education and the economy.