Aaron Reichlin-Melnick Profile picture
Sep 24, 2020 8 tweets 4 min read Read on X
Another major change to the legal immigration system; the Trump administration wants to eliminate "duration of status" visas for international students, exchange visitors, and international media.

Students would be limited to visas that last 2-4 years, with extensions allowed.
Under DHS's proposal, it seems that international journalists on assignment in the US would be effectively prohibited from remaining for long periods of time.

The proposal would limit their visas to at most 240 days, and require them to file for Extension of Statuses after that.
New restrictions on student visas would also be imposed by the rule, including limiting language training students to a maximum 24-month period of stay, requiring students to leave the U.S. more quickly after their visa expires, and setting a limit on changing educational levels.
Importantly, under the new rule international students would receive automatic six-month extensions of their status once they filed for an extension, which would in times when @USCIS was actually functional ensure that people would get an answer before their status expired.
Here's the full list of changes DHS says the rule would make for international media.

I don't know much about "I" visas, so I don't know how many foreign journalists use them to remain in the US for long periods of time. But these changes seem designed to make that impossible.
Here's another good thread going over some of the more fine details of the rule, from someone with significantly more experience in these types of visas than me.
Importantly, @doug_rand notes that the new proposed rule would effectively impose racist nationality-based limitations on some foreign students, declaring people security threats purely based on the place they were born and the nationality they posses.
Probably the biggest change in the rule would be a ban on student visas longer than 2 years for any person born in, or a citizen of, a country with a student visa overstay rate over 10%—meaning no bachelor/grad degrees.

As I show, that bans most of Africa

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More from @ReichlinMelnick

Jun 13
This funding would make ICE the highest-funded law enforcement agency in the history of the United States, with greater detention capacity than the entire Federal Bureau of Prisons.

It would reshape society, making federal arrests a daily fact of life in every single community.
Personally I think we should not spend enough money to bring every American out of homelessness on rounding up large portions of America's farmworkers, roofers, drywall installers, masons, carpenters, cooks, janitors, and more, all to crash the economy.
Read 9 tweets
Jun 7
The U.S. government is “demanding” that people stop using certain political rhetoric.

That is appalling. The government cannot order people not to speak in ways they don’t like.
Exactly. Threats against judges are up dramatically, and come after DHS and ICE itself have made appalling and prejudicial comments about judges.
Beyond the free speech issues and the hypocrisy, I am actually sympathetic to some of his concerns! Threatening the family of an ICE officer is wrong!

But ICE leadership knew a large backlash was a consequence of these outrageous new operations; and they ordered it anyway.
Read 4 tweets
Jun 1
What infuriates me so much about this operation is that it is literally punishing people for following the rules and showing up to their court hearings. It is so toxic to the basic concept of following the rules. ICE itself is effectively encouraging people to violate the law.
Exactly. People can understand intuitively why this is wrong.

It also literally erases a fair day in court. That’s the entire point of the operation.
First, that’s not what’s happening here, people are having their cases dismissed over their objections.

And second, yes, that’s been the standard for generations where people do not waive appeal. There is by law a 30 day period to appeal before any removal order becomes final.
Read 6 tweets
May 22
🚨ICE arrests continued today at immigration courts nationwide. People showing up for court are being handcuffed in the hallways by ICE officers with lists of names, after ICE prosecutors move to dismiss the case.

Here's what those officers looked in Seattle as they, per @KUOW. Image
Stories are coming in from around the country about these arrests, which have occurred in LA, Miami, SF, Phoenix, Seattle, NYC, Chicago, and other places with immigration courts.

The goal of the Trump admin's efforts are to erase the right to see a judge.
kuow.org/stories/ice-ag…
This new effort by the Trump admin is aimed primarily at people with NO CRIMINAL RECORD. Many entered legally at a port of entry.

These people are seen as low hanging fruit for an admin wanting to juice deportation numbers by skipping the formal court process entirely. Image
Read 10 tweets
May 21
NEW: ICE confirms that it is deporting someone to South Sudan, putting a link to an upcoming press conference on YouTube.

A hearing in Massachusetts begins in an hour. The judge ordered ICE not to transfer custody of a Vietnamese man believed to be on that flight to South Sudan. Image
The link is here. Chief DHS propagandist Tricia McLaughlin is talking now, beginning by emphasizing the serious criminal conduct of the people it has reportedly sent to South Sudan (murder and rape). She says South Sudan agreed to take them. youtube.com/live/p2U8Eh1VF…
McLaughlin called this a "military operation" (bull, it's a private jet contracted by ICE) and calls the men "uniquely violent monsters" and shows 8 pictures. She attacks Judge Murphy, calling him an "activist judge."

Every time she refers to the men, she calls them "monsters."
Read 21 tweets
May 21
🚨UPDATE: In a late-night court hearing, the Trump admin says that it deported the Burmese man to Burma, but is REFUSING to say where they deported the Vietnamese man, claiming it’s classified!

The judge ordered ICE to tell everyone involved they may face criminal contempt. Image
Image
The @nytimes has more details, as they apparently got a reporter in the hearing.

There is reportedly another hearing scheduled for tomorrow morning at 11:00 as a continuation. It seems unlikely Judge Murphy will rule tonight.

nytimes.com/2025/05/20/us/…
@nytimes Here is the section of the article noting the moment when Judge Murphy ordered the DOJ lawyer at the hearing to notify everyone involved, “from the pilot of the plane to officials at the Department of Homeland Security,” that they might face charges of criminal contempt of court. Image
Read 5 tweets

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