United States (US) trade unions have launched a lawsuit against a new visa rule introduced by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that targets international students, cultural exchange visitors, and journalists.
The new regulations, scheduled to take effect on 15 September, establish fixed time limits for F, J, and I visas. Currently, these visas remain valid for the entire duration of a student’s academic programme or a media worker’s employment in US, reports Al Jazeera.
Under the incoming rules, student visas (F visas) and exchange programme visas (J visas) would be capped at a maximum of four years.
Meanwhile, visas for members of the foreign media (I visas), which can currently last for years, would be limited to up to 240 days, and restricted further to just 90 days for Chinese nationals.
In their lawsuit, the coalition of unions and organisations warned that the measure would “discourage foreign students and other nonimmigrants from coming to United States, repelled by the intolerable prospect of losing lawful immigration status partway through their studies”.
They added that “students will lose opportunities, schools will lose talent, and the public will lose billions of dollars of economic contributions supported by one of the United States’ top exports: education”.
Union leaders have strongly criticised the policy. American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten accused US of “breaking the law for its own political purposes and, in doing so, is hurting Americans and American enterprise”, while using international students as “pawns”.
Jon Schleuss, president of US NewsGuild-CWA, characterised the rule as “an attack on journalists”.
In response, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson dismissed the legal challenge as “performative”.
“If the media really cared about legitimate international students, they would be thanking President [Donald] Trump for cracking down on the rampant fraud to ensure only those truly intending to study in the United States are given the privilege,” the spokesperson said, though no evidence was provided to back the allegations of fraud.
