Judge blocks DHS rule limiting international student stays to four years

September 15, 2026 at 03:20 AM2 min

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A federal judge in Massachusetts granted a preliminary injunction blocking a Department of Homeland Security rule that would have limited international student stays to four years. The rule was set to take effect Sept. 15. Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV ruled that DHS failed to justify the policy under the Administrative Procedure Act.

Key Facts

Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued the preliminary injunction in a 48-page order.
The rule would have ended a nearly 50-year policy allowing international students in good academic standing to stay until they complete their studies.
The rule sparked 22,000 public comments, most of which opposed it.
The lawsuit was filed by eight organizations primarily representing the higher education sector.

The Court's Ruling

Judge Saylor wrote 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. The department also failed to show a rational connection between the rule and its purported national security objectives. "The government's contention that the rule is necessary to safeguard national security borders on the absurd," Saylor wrote. He added that the rule 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 Rule and Its Impact

Finalized in July, the rule ends a nearly 50-year policy allowing international students in good academic standing to stay in the U.S. until they complete their studies, and instead limits them to four years. At that point, students could request an extension to stay, but it's unclear how that process will work. The rule also applied to those with J-1 visas, which covers a range of cultural exchange programs, such as Fulbright scholars and foreign journalists who report in the U.S. DHS has said the goal of the regulation is to improve national security and lower the number of students who stay in the country too long.

Opposition and Legal Challenge

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. They've argued that the regulation will negatively impact a variety of students who need longer than four years to complete their programs, especially Ph.D. students, whose programs often take five or more years. They also raised concerns that the regulation will make a U.S. education less appealing to international students, which will have ricochet effects on enrollment and revenue. The lawsuit, filed weeks ago by eight organizations that primarily represent the higher education sector, seeks to vacate the rule.