The case, brought by a coalition of cross-sector organisations, seeks to halt the administration’s final rule that would end the decades-old visa policy allowing students to remain in status for the duration of their studies. The policy is set to take effect on September 15th.
According to the plaintiffs, Massachusetts judge F. Dennis Saylor expressed a desire to issue a ruling prior to the 15th, indicating that he could temporarily halt the policy if the court needed more time.
The suit challenges the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) final rule replacing duration of status with fixed time limits on student visas, requiring them to file for an extension of stay if their studies surpass four years.
While the government argued such a measure would combat visa fraud and protect US national security, Saylor raised doubts, with reports from the court describing his stance as “sceptical, at best” of the need to overhaul the system.
“I am just struggling to see a rational connection,” Saylor said: “A four-year cap does not have anything to do with national security.”
The government raised two instances of “pay-to-stay” visa fraud cases from 2018 and 2020, and instances of Chinese students on F-1 visas charged with conspiracy offenses in 2022.
But the judge dismissed the reports as anecdotal, responding, “maybe I am stating the obvious, but I’ll state it: A foreign student who wants to take a photo of a military base could do it in four years,” reported the Boston Globe.
Meanwhile, the plaintiffs made the case that the policy shift is misguided and unnecessary and that it would inject “uncertainty, bureaucracy, and fear into a system that has long worked effectively” said co-plaintiff NAFSA CEO Fanta Aw in a statement following the hearing.
“What was made very clear in the hearing were the harms to students and institutions,” Miriam Fledblum, CEO of the Presidents’ Alliance, told The PIE News.
“The record presented to the court showed that the potential harms are neither abstract nor easily reversed,” said Feldblum: “It also underscored the government’s failure to adequately engage in the rulemaking process at every stage.”
Notably, the judge appeared to agree with the plaintiffs’ argument that DHS did not respond meaningfully to the 22,000 responses submitted during the rule’s public comment period.
“It does tend to suggest that the government was trying to push this through at high speed rather than taking the comments of the affected communities seriously,” Saylor told the court.
A four-year cap does not have anything to do with national security
F. Dennis Saylor, United States District Judge
Alongside sector bodies, unions and representatives of the media were among the suit’s co-plaintiffs, as the rule includes fixed periods of admission for international journalists on I visas.
It also limits international students’ ability to change educational objectives, transfer institutions or pursue additional programs of study, among other restrictions.
Jon Schleuss, president of the NewsGuild-CWA, said he was “proud” to be in court as part of a strong labour coalition, including international students and scholars, arguing DHS was acting illegally.
“I never dreamed I would be spending so much time in court suing a President violating our constitution and the rule of law,” he said.
The September 3 hearing and potential rule change come as students are arriving on campuses across the US for fall enrolments – with NAFSA and JB International forecasting a 10% drop in total international students, set to cost the US economy $3.4 billion this year.
Experts have criticised the rule’s handing of academic decisions to immigration officials – with visa holders granted no right to appeal an extension rejection – and the huge administrative burden placed on institutions preparing for the potential changes.
It is one among swathes of policy changes impacting international students coming to the US, including soaring fees and upcoming restrictions on OPT and H-1B visas, alongside severe visa delays threatening to bar students from arriving on US campuses this fall.
