A US federal judge has temporarily blocked new Trump administration rules that would have imposed tighter limits on how long foreign students and journalists can remain in the United States.
District Judge Dennis Saylor issued a preliminary injunction on Monday, just a day before the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rules were due to take effect. He also scheduled another hearing for October 2, while leaving the broader merits of the legal challenge unresolved.
The case was brought by a coalition of unions representing universities, teachers and journalists, which challenged the proposed restrictions on foreign nationals.
Under the suspended rules, international students would have been granted visas for a maximum of four years before being required to seek an extension. The previous system generally allowed students to remain in the country for the duration of their academic programmes.
Foreign journalists would have faced an even shorter limit, with stays capped at 240 days, or roughly eight months. They could apply for extensions of a similar length. Journalists from China would have been restricted to 90-day stays, with the possibility of 90-day extensions.
In a memorandum accompanying his order, Saylor expressed serious reservations about the proposed system, particularly the level of discretion it would give DHS officials over visa extensions.
The judge noted that the existing system had enabled tens of millions of foreign students to study in the US, contributing to advances in science, medicine and technology as well as economic growth.
He argued that the new framework could substantially reduce the number of foreign students, researchers, professors and journalists able to remain in the country.
Saylor was particularly critical of the absence of an appeal mechanism for rejected extensions. He said DHS officials would have broad powers to terminate academic, research or teaching activities involving non-US citizens based on limited criteria.
He also warned that foreign journalists could have no effective recourse if their extensions were denied, raising concerns that journalists critical of the government or DHS officials could be targeted.
The judge further questioned DHS’s national security justification for the policy, describing the argument as bordering on the absurd and relying largely on a small number of anecdotes.
The restrictions form part of President Donald Trump’s broader immigration crackdown, which includes aggressive enforcement operations and tighter controls on legal immigration pathways.
The US hosted more than 1.1 million international students during the 2023-24 academic year, according to official figures, making it the world’s leading destination for international students.
