美国法官叫停特朗普政府限制外国学生、记者居留期限的新规

US judge blocks Trump limits on how long foreign students, journalists can stay

September 14, 2026 9:27 PM UTC / Reuters

By Nate Raymond

An information sign for passport and visa appointments is displayed outside the U.S. embassy in London, Britain, May 29, 2025. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

• Summary

• Rule would cap duration of visas for international students at four years
• Judge says DHS adopted policy on ‘exceptionally weak’ rationales
• Judge says universities would face enrollment declines if rule took effect

BOSTON, Sept 14 (Reuters) – A federal judge on Monday blocked U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration from implementing a new rule that ‌would limit how long foreign students and journalists can remain in the U.S. without applying for extensions.

U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor in Boston ruled, opens new tab in favor of a coalition of unions and higher education advocacy groups a day before the Department of Homeland Security’s ​rule was set to take effect.

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Saylor said DHS adopted the policy based on “exceptionally weak” rationales. The agency had ​cited national security and the need to prevent fraud in the visa program, but the ⁠judge found it had not adhered to its legal obligations to engage with concerns about a policy change or ​consider less burdensome alternatives.

DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The judge, an appointee of Republican President George ​W. Bush, wrote that, opens new tab the rule upended a system through which the U.S. for nearly five decades had issued visas to foreign students for their “duration of status.”

That system, he said, has permitted tens of millions of foreign students and researchers to come to the U.S., leading ​to “groundbreaking research in science, medicine, and technology, substantial economic growth, and a host of other benefits, often on a ​vast scale.”

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Saylor said the rule DHS adopted in July seeks to replace that system with one that would substantially restrict the overall ‌number ⁠of foreign students, professors and journalists in the country.

Under the rule, F visas for international students and J visas that allow visitors on cultural exchange programs to work in the U.S. would be capped at four years, while I visas for journalists, which currently can last years, would be up to 240 days.

About 1.6 million people currently ​have F visas and another ​500,000 have J visas. Major ⁠research universities like Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard have large percentages of foreign students, particularly at the graduate level, the judge noted.

If the rule took effect, such ​universities would likely suffer hundreds of millions of dollars in costs and enrollment would ​decline, Saylor said.

“The ⁠damage to the higher education system and to the economy of the United States is likely to be catastrophic,” Saylor wrote.

Miriam Feldblum, the head of one of the plaintiffs, Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, said the judge’s ruling recognized the ⁠harm the ​rule would cause to international students, universities and the economy if it ​was allowed to take effect.

“While the case continues, this relief preserves the longstanding system that enables our colleges and universities — and our country — to ​attract, educate, and retain global talent,” Feldblum said.

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Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by David Gregorio and Rosalba O’Brien

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