A US federal judge has issued a nationwide preliminary injunction on September 14, 2026, just one day before the Trump administration's new visa restrictions were set to take effect. Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted the 48-page order ruling that the Department of Homeland Security's rule would not take effect as scheduled. The ruling prevents DHS and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from enforcing the new admission limits while the legal challenge continues, marking the third injunction the Guild has been involved in winning against the Trump administration. Judge Saylor has now postponed implementation of the new DHS rules without ruling on the merits of the case and scheduled another hearing for October 2.
Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV ruled that the new policy would probably cause 'catastrophic' damage to the US economy and higher-education system, as reported by Reuters. The judge rejected the government's claims that the restrictions were needed to protect the country. The judge specifically noted that the current system has permitted tens of millions of foreign students to come to the United States, resulting in 'groundbreaking research in science, medicine, and technology, substantial economic growth, and a host of other benefits'. He criticized DHS for 'replacing it with a new program that will substantially restrict the overall number of foreign students, researchers, professors, and journalists'. Judge Saylor said 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," and warned that if the rule took effect, such universities would likely suffer hundreds of millions of dollars in costs and enrollment would decline. Major research universities like Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard have large percentages of foreign students, particularly at the graduate level, the judge noted.
The Trump administration rule, finalized in July 2026, established four-year limits on student and exchange visitor visas and 240-day limits on journalists' visas, with specific restrictions barring China, according to Reuters. Under the proposed new rules, foreigners on student visas would be admitted for a maximum of up to four years after which they would have to apply for an extension. International students were previously allowed to remain for the duration of their studies. Foreign journalists would be limited to stays of just 240 days, or around eight months, but could apply for extensions of similar duration. Until now they could stay up to five years. Chinese journalists would get just 90 days, with extensions of 90 days. The new rules would have allowed students and journalists to apply for extensions, but Judge Saylor noted that approval would be at the discretion of Department of Homeland Security officials with no provision for appeals. About 1.6 million people currently have F visas and another 500,000 have J visas, as reported by Reuters.
Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV wrote in his 48-page order that Trump officials did not respond adequately to public comments on the rule or consider alternative options, among other violations of the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs how departments create regulations. The judge specifically noted that the government's contention that the rule is necessary to safeguard national security borders on the absurd, writing that 'It is based almost entirely on a small handful of anecdotes, each of which involved incidents that the new rule would do nothing to prevent or even mitigate'. The department also failed to show a rational connection between the rule and its purported national security objectives. DHS General Counsel James Percival criticized Saylor's ruling, saying that under it, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement must "permit this rampant abuse of our immigration system" and warned that 'Come on a student visa, take one class per semester, and stay here for decades'. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.
Several organizations, primarily representing the higher education sector and labor unions, moved court to strike down the rule, as reported by Reuters. NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss called the policy an attack on journalists, stating it is 'clearly designed to chill' their reporting. The lawsuit, filed weeks ago by eight organizations that primarily represent the higher education sector, seeks to vacate the rule completely, so Monday's order is just an initial step in the litigation. Judge Saylor specifically noted the possibility that visas of foreign journalists critical of the government would not be renewed, writing that there is 'the obvious likelihood that the visas of foreign journalists who are critical of the government (or, more particularly, DHS officials) will not be renewed'. The judge criticized DHS for 'adopting the policy based on "exceptionally weak" rationales' and found that the agency had not adhered to its legal obligations to engage with concerns about a policy change or consider less burdensome alternatives. Both international education advocates and institutions have raised the alarm about the regulation, which sparked 22,000 public comments—most of which opposed the rule.
The injunction specifically affects journalists working on I visas at several outlets including Le Monde, EFE, the CBC, Agence France-Presse and Reuters, as reported by The NewsGuild. The Guild joined a coalition that filed this lawsuit in August, with plaintiffs including the Guild, NAFSA: Association of International Educators, the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts (AICUM), the American Federation Of Teachers (AFT), Graduate Labor Organization AFT Local 6516 (GLO), International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), and United Auto Workers Local 2322. Judge Saylor also noted the attempted change 'raises the very likely possibility of retaliation against American journalists working abroad' and that foreign journalists applying for visa extensions would also have 'no recourse and no appeal' in the event they are turned down. The judge specifically highlighted concerns about the extension process, writing that it calls for the 'entirely unguided exercise of discretion by government officials, with no recourse and no appeal'.
