A federal judge temporarily blocked a Trump administration rule that would have imposed a four-year cap on international student visas on Monday, just one day before it was set to take effect.<\/p>\n
If implemented, the Department of Homeland Security policy would apply<\/a> to students, researchers, professors, foreign press representatives, or other academics entering or reentering the United States \u2014 including those at Penn. In a Monday motion<\/a>, United States District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV wrote that the federal government\u2019s rationale was \u201cexceptionally weak.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA DHS official\u2014based on limited and vague criteria, and with no possibility of appeal\u2014will have the power to cut short the academic, research, or teaching activities of any non-U.S. citizen for no reason or any reason,\u201d Saylor wrote in the memorandum.<\/p>\n Rudie Altamirano, executive director of Penn International Student Services, told The Daily Pennsylvanian that he communicated with community members about the update on Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last October \u2014 when the department first proposed the fixed visa length policy \u2014 the University sent a letter<\/a> to the DHS outlining \u201cunnecessary negative consequences\u201d associated with the proposal.\u00a0<\/p>\n Get the DP delivered straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n Sign Up<\/a><\/p>\n In the filing, Penn administrators wrote that the fixed-term rule, which would replace the longstanding \u201cDuration of Status\u201d policy, \u201cis incompatible with the realities of the American system of educating international students,\u201d given that many students enroll in programs longer than four years.<\/p>\n \u201cThe performative outrage is incredible,\u201d a DHS spokesperson wrote in a statement. \u201cWhere 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?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The fixed visa length system, which was formally introduced<\/a> in July, was set to take effect on Tuesday. Under the policy, individuals who need time beyond their authorized admission period would be required to apply for an Extension of Stay.<\/p>\n In the Sept. 14 memo, Saylor wrote that the \u201cweakness of the connection\u201d between the rule and its purpose \u201craises legitimate questions as to whether its real purpose is not to safeguard national security and protect our borders, but to achieve other, undisclosed, goals.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf the media really cared about legitimate international students,\u201d the DHS spokesperson argued, \u201cThey 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.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStudents and scholars should continue to follow the existing requirements applicable to their immigration status,\u201d Altamirano wrote in a statement. \u201cISSS will continue to monitor developments closely and provide additional information and guidance to our international community as appropriate.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Senior reporter Addison Saji leads coverage of science and health and can be reached at saji@thedp.com<\/a>. At Penn, she studies English. Follow her on X at @addisonsaji<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A federal judge temporarily blocked a Trump administration rule that would have imposed a four-year cap on international…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286304,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[69,71,70],"class_list":["post-286303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}