DHS Appeals Block on International Student Time Limits

The Department of Homeland Security is appealing a federal court’s ruling in a lawsuit contesting a regulation that would limit how long international students can stay in the U.S.

Last week, ahead of an Oct. 2 hearing in the case, DHS filed its appeal with the First Circuit Court of Appeals, seeking to reverse a preliminary injunction that blocked the regulation from going into effect. The regulation, which was finalized over the summer and slated to take effect in September, would cap the amount of time international students can remain in the U.S. at four years, unless they get permission for an extension. It also placed other new limitations on international students, such as preventing graduate students from changing their course of study.

A preliminary injunction granted by a federal judge last month prevented the rule from taking effect.

The lawsuit was filed in August by eight organizations representing the higher education and journalism sectors (the regulation would place the same cap on foreign journalists in the U.S.). The plaintiffs argue that DHS violated several parts of the Administrative Procedure Act, the statute that governs federal agencies, including requirements to respond substantively to negative public comments and to conduct a thorough analysis of a regulation’s impacts.

According to online updates published by the lead plaintiff on the case, the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, attorneys for the government plan to ask the First Circuit Court to expedite the appeal.