Universities sue DHS over four-year visa cap

Colleges and universities say the rule carries serious consequences for the economy and academia.(CN) — Higher education groups challenged a Trump administration policy that limits how long international students can remain in the United States, filing a lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.Led by the Presidents’ Alliance, a group representing “close to 600 public and private colleges and universities” spanning the ranks of higher education, the plaintiffs asked the court to vacate a new rule by the Department of Homeland Security that caps foreign student, exchange visitor and journalist F-1 and J-1 visas to four years.The rule replaces the previous “duration of status” standard that allowed students to stay for the length of time required for their degree or program.International students contribute around $43 billion to the U.S. economy each academic year, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators, another plaintiff in the suit.Higher education and labor groups bringing suit say the rule carries serious consequences for the economy and academia, including declining international student enrollment and increased financial stress for institutions.“This regulatory uncertainty itself inflicts harm by destabilizing established academic programming, impairing admissions yield and enrollment decisions, and compelling institutions to divert resources to crisis advising and contingency planning,” the plaintiffs write in an 81-page complaint. “Ultimately, the [rule] will unleash harms on the nation as a whole.”Once the restriction takes effect on Sept. 15, students who need more than four years to complete a degree will have to apply for an extension. Those already studying in the U.S. under the previous regulation will be authorized to stay in the country for four years from the effective date.The rule, which will cost at least $443 million to implement, is arbitrary and capricious, the plaintiff schools say, since it relies on a faulty cost-benefit analysis and was pushed forth despite some 22,000 public comments warning DHS that it would “deter enrollment, overwhelm USCIS, disrupt federally funded research, harm local economies, and accelerate the loss of global talent to competitor nations.”“The agency acknowledged billions of dollars in quantified costs over ten years, but listed zero quantitative benefits, choosing instead to describe the purported benefits of the rulemaking only qualitatively — likely because those supposed benefits, which are based on nothing more than anecdote and make little sense even on their own terms, would be dwarfed by even the acknowledged costs of the final rule,” the groups write.According to the plaintiffs, public commenters “provided no shortage of reasonable and less burdensome alternatives,” but DHS “engaged in an exercise of close-minded justification of a preordained result.”DHS announced the four-year student visa cap on July 16, touting it as eliminating a “loophole” that allowed foreign students, exchange visitors and media representatives to remain in the U.S. indefinitely.In a statement Tuesday, a DHS spokesperson decried the lawsuit and also suggested media coverage of the president’s agenda should be slanted in Trump’s favor.“The performative outrage is incredible. Where was the outrage when foreign nationals were abusing the system, violating the terms of their student visas, and making a mockery of our immigration laws? If the media really cared about legitimate international students, they would be thanking President Trump for cracking down on the rampant fraud to ensure only those truly intending to study in the United States are given the privilege.”Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads