A coalition of US unions and advocacy groups has filed a lawsuit against the federal government, seeking to block new rules that would limit the duration of stay for foreign students and journalists in the United States unless they apply for extensions.
The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for Massachusetts on Tuesday (July 28). The plaintiffs argue that the changes would be a “catastrophe” for universities, international students, and scholars.
The new rules by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) establish fixed time periods for F visas for international students, J visas for cultural exchange visitors working in the US, and I visas for press correspondents.
Previously, these visas remained valid for the entire duration of an academic program or work assignment in the US. Under the new rules, effective September 15, student and exchange visitor visas would be capped at four years. Journalist visas, which could previously extend for multiple years, would be limited to 240 days, or just 90 days for Chinese nationals.
In the lawsuit, the groups state: “These rules will discourage foreign students and non-immigrants from coming to the US, due to the risk of losing legal status mid-stream during their studies. Students will lose opportunities, schools will lose talent, and the public will lose billions of dollars in economic contributions from one of America's top exports: education.”
A DHS spokesperson dismissed the lawsuit as “performative,” adding: “If the media truly cared about legal international students, they would thank President Trump for cracking down on rampant fraud to ensure that only those genuinely intending to study in the US enjoy this privilege.” However, the spokesperson provided no evidence for the fraud allegations.
Jon Schleuss, President of the NewsGuild-CWA, described the new rules as an attack on journalists. Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), said the US is “violating the law for political purposes, and harming Americans and American businesses,” while turning international students into “hostages.”
Weingarten stressed: “This latest action against intellectualism by the Trump administration arbitrarily limits the study time of international scholars, and threatens to turn a welcoming environment for students into a hostile one.”
