Federal judge blocks Trump visa restrictions for students and journalists

A federal judge in Boston has blocked new US visa rules that were due to start on September 15, 2024. The Department of Homeland Security had introduced the rules in July because it said some visa holders were abusing the system. Under the rules, student visas would have been limited to four years, and journalist visas to 240 days. Judge F. Dennis Saylor ruled in favour of universities and unions that had challenged the restrictions. He said the rules would likely cause "catastrophic" damage to higher education and the US economy. He also found that the government had probably broken administrative law. More than 13,000 South Koreans and many other international nationals would have been affected by the changes.