US Judge Blocks Trump Administration's New Student Visa Rule

A US judge has blocked the Trump administration's new rule that would have capped student visas at four years, a move experts say could have caused catastrophic damage to higher education and the economy. The decision preserves the existing system that allows foreign students to study and contribute to research and economic growth in the United States.

The new visa rule threatened to impose hundreds of millions of dollars in additional costs on major research universities while reducing student enrolment, according to experts. They warned that the damage to the higher education system and the broader economy would likely be catastrophic.

The existing system has enabled tens of millions of foreign students and researchers to study in the US, contributing to groundbreaking research in science, medicine, and technology, as well as substantial economic growth. Critics of the new rule, including the Department of Homeland Security's General Counsel James Percival, argued that it would encourage abuse of the immigration system by allowing students to take minimal classes and remain in the country for decades on a student visa.