Federal Court Blocks Trump Visa Caps as States Attack Green Card Rule

Unions and higher education groups challenge visa-duration limits, while state and local governments contest expanded public-benefits scrutiny.

Published on 15 September 202615 September 2026

US President Donald Trump’s administration suffered two major legal setbacks on Monday as a federal judge blocked proposed limits on several nonimmigrant visas and a broad coalition of Democratic-led states challenged a separate rule governing access to green cards.

US District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV in Boston issued an injunction preventing the administration from imposing fixed duration limits on foreign students and journalists without requiring them to apply for extensions. Separately, a wide coalition of states filed lawsuits against a federal regulation that would permit immigration officials to deny green cards to applicants who lawfully use public benefits.

Court blocks visa-duration rule

The Department of Homeland Security regulation was due to take effect on Tuesday, but Judge Saylor granted an injunction requested by a coalition of trade unions and higher education advocacy groups.

Under the administration’s proposal, F visas for international students and J visas for participants in cultural exchange programmes would be limited to four years. I visas for journalists, which can currently be granted for longer periods, would be restricted to 240 days.

Appointed to the bench by Republican President George W. Bush, Saylor described the Department of Homeland Security’s national security and fraud-prevention arguments as “exceptionally weak”.

The judge observed that the existing system has enabled millions of scholars to advance major scientific discoveries and support economic growth. He warned that curtailing their access to the United States could have “catastrophic” consequences for higher education and the broader US economy.

The proposed restrictions would affect approximately 1.6 million international students holding F visas and about 500,000 exchange visitors on J visas.

States challenge expanded public charge standard

Two lawsuits were filed in a Manhattan federal court on Monday to halt a Department of Homeland Security regulation scheduled to take effect on Friday. The measure would broaden the criteria immigration officials may use to declare green card applicants inadmissible as a “public charge”, a legal standard historically applied to people expected to become primarily dependent on the government for basic subsistence.

New York, California and Illinois are leading a coalition of 22 states and the District of Columbia seeking to block the policy. A parallel lawsuit was filed by six cities and counties.

Under the Biden administration, immigration officials could consider an applicant’s receipt of cash assistance but were prohibited from penalising the use of non-cash benefits such as food aid and Medicaid. The Trump administration is seeking to revive first-term policies that treat non-cash assistance as a negative factor while expanding scrutiny to benefits used by an applicant’s relatives.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson defended the regulation, calling the plaintiffs “left-wing leaders” who were “terrified they will lose federal funds because hundreds of thousands of illegals and noncitizens might remove themselves from American welfare programs”.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement that the rule “seeks to push immigrant families away from the programs that have kept people fed and healthy for decades”.

The lawsuits argue that the administration exceeded its legal authority by bypassing Congress, which has sole power to establish the criteria for permanent residency.

By penalising applicants who lawfully receive non-cash assistance such as food stamps and Medicaid, the plaintiffs say the administration created an unlawful barrier that conflicts with federal statutes.

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