The Boston judge presiding over a federal court case centered on a Trump administration plan to restrict international student visas asked both parties at a hearing Friday to file proposals for a “pathway forward.”
The hearing at the John Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston was intended to clarify the status of the case, which involves a group of university leaders, nonprofits, and labor unions suing the federal government to prevent ending the long-standing policy allowing international students to remain in the US on valid visas for the duration of their studies without time constraints.
The move would mean international students may not be allowed to complete their studies in the US if doing so would require them to stay longer than four years.
Declining international student enrollment has already been a blow to state economies, which would be exacerbated by the new policy, experts say.
In September, Judge F. Dennis Saylor issued a preliminary injunction in favor of the plaintiffs — which includes the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, a coalition of US college and university leaders — one day before the rule was set to take effect, postponing it until the case is resolved. In his ruling, Saylor described the government’s rationale for the rule as “exceptionally weak” and that, if implemented, it would cause “catastrophic” damage to higher education institutions and to the national economy.
The Department of Homeland Security appealed the injunction, but the federal government is barred from implementing the rule while the case is ongoing.
At the Friday hearing, attorney Paul Hughes, who represented the coalition suing the federal government, suggested that Saylor end the case soon through a summary judgment or permanent injunction, decisions he said would simplify the appeals case.
A summary judgment would decide the winner of the case before a full trial, while a permanent injunction would take the form of a final court order to the losing party at the end of the lawsuit.
Attorney Michael Celone, representing the Department of Homeland Security, asked for the court to stay, which would pause proceedings as the appeal runs its course through the appeals court. He said that waiting longer instead of immediately issuing a summary judgment or permanent injunction would avoid administrative costs and affected academic pathways.
Celone said staying would also limit “the risk of inconsistent judgments” if the court “continues towards summary judgment with pending proceedings” in the court of appeals. He also said that the federal government is working to “expedite” the appeals.
Hughes argued that staying could complicate the case, causing unnecessary confusion down the road.
Saylor said he did not want to issue a decision on either party’s behalf “on the fly.” Instead, he requested that both sides complete simultaneous filings proposing a “roadmap” for the case by Oct. 9. He said the filings should cover what issues the parties still want addressed as well as what a final decision on the case, and timetables for those decisions, could look like.
The federal government’s new rule, announced in July and set to take effect Sept. 15, caps visa holders’ duration of stay in the US at four years unless they receive an extension from US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
If allowed, the move would end the long-standing Duration of Status system, which allowed international students to stay in the country as long as they were making progress in their studies. The new rule also restricts international students’ ability to transfer schools or change their major without approval in their first year, and limits stays for foreign journalists and exchange visitors.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin claimed that Duration of Status allowed for “immigration fraud,” and that the new rule would prevent international students from enrolling in additional courses in order to remain in the US.
It was one of a barrage of Trump administration attacks on international students in higher education. Previously, the federal government moved to raise the cost of visas, cancel active visas, and ban international students from enrolling at Harvard University.
Despite these efforts being shot down in courts, international student enrollment in the US has decreased by an average of 20 percent over the last year.
In July, the coalition filed a lawsuit in Boston challenging the rule, arguing that any changes to Duration of Status would weaken the country’s competitive edge in research and recruiting talent.
Chloe Craft can be reached at chloe.craft@globe.com.