A federal judge on Monday ordered Homeland Security not to carry out its new rule limiting how long foreign students and journalists can remain in the U.S., delivering a barrage of withering shots at the Trump administration for the policy.
Judge Dennis Saylor IV, a George W. Bush appointee to the court in Massachusetts, said the policy was irrational, the justification was “exceptionally weak,” and the attempt to cloak the plan in national security concerns “borders on the absurd.”
He issued his ruling a day before the policy was to take effect. He ordered the start date to be postponed indefinitely while the case develops.
He said the lack of a good justification for the rule, finalized in July, meant it violates the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs the regulatory process and requires agencies to make a good-faith effort to defend their decisions and engage with public comments.
“DHS’s proffered objectives bear no reasonable connection to the Final Rule. Accordingly, the Final Rule is arbitrary and capricious within the meaning of the APA,” Judge Saylor wrote.
The proposal would have limited foreign students to four years of legal status. If they needed more time, they would have to get renewed permission.
Under the older system, students were allowed to stay for the duration it took to complete their program.
DHS said the crush of foreign students — some 1.8 million were admitted in 2024 — has meant the department can’t track them all to make sure they are still here studying. DHS said the change would give it more opportunities to check students and make sure they still deserve their visas.
The department said more than 2,000 foreigners who came to the U.S. between 2000 and 2010 were still here on student visas. Also, some 77,000 foreigners have spent more than 10 years on student visas.
DHS called them “forever students” who were gaming the system.
Judge Saylor disagreed, saying many education programs, such as doctoral degrees and postdoctoral training, can take that long.
His ruling came on the first working day after the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Some of the hijackers came to the U.S. on student visas. Mani Hanjour, who piloted the plane into the Pentagon, was on a student visa for a language program but never attended, which should have invalidated his visa.
The DHS changes applied to students, and exchange visitors, who were capped at four years, and to journalists who came on the I visa, which was capped at 240 days.
Judge Saylor seemed particularly miffed that DHS would be able to reject students’ requests for extensions.
“In other words, a DHS official — based on limited and vague criteria, and with no possibility of appeal — will have the power to cut short the academic, research, or teaching activities of any non-U.S. citizen for no reason or any reason,” he wrote.
He worried about a student who was one class shy of the credits to get a degree who could be told to go home.
Judge Saylor also said he worried that DHS would abuse the system to punish an administration’s opponents.
He pointed to the Trump administration’s battle with Harvard University, where the government tried to suspend the school’s ability to host foreign students.
Contact the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.