Trump administration sued over new US visa limits for students, journalists

A coalition of unions and advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit against the US government to block new visa limits imposed by the Trump administration. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, challenges regulations issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that would impose fixed limits on the duration of stay for international students, exchange visitors, and foreign journalists.

The new rules, set to take effect on September 15, would limit F visas for international students and J visas for exchange visitors to a maximum of four years, with a general limit of 240 days. I visas for foreign media workers would also receive fixed periods of admission, ranging from 90 days for Chinese journalists to 240 days for others.

The groups argue that the changes could discourage international students and scholars from coming to the United States and create additional uncertainty for foreign journalists. The NewsGuild-CWA, which represents journalists at several US news organizations, is among the groups challenging the rule, describing the changes as an attack on journalists and potentially catastrophic for US universities and international students.

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