Judge blocks DHS from capping foreign student, journalist visas

A federal judge blocked the Department of Homeland Security from imposing new caps on visas for groups including foreign students and journalists, saying the change was “likely to be catastrophic” to the higher education system and American economy.

Though holders of such visas have long been allowed to remain in the country for the duration of their studies or assignments, the department proposed a rule last year that limited student and exchange visas to the length of the participant’s program, with a maximum stay of four years. Journalists with the "I" visas were limited to stays of 240 days, though journalists from China were limited to 90 days.

Trump administration officials have argued that a “significant increase” in the number of nonimmigrants coming to the United States through the F, J and I visa classifications “poses a challenge to the Department’s ability to monitor and oversee" them. The changes, according to the department, would reduce the potential for people to “exploit these programs."

The latest rules became final in July, and a coalition of groups – including the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts and the American Federation of Teachers…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/