Federal Judge Blocks Change to Duration of Status Rule, Siding with UAW Members

This week, a federal judge sided with UAW members by blocking the Department of Homeland Security from limiting F-1 and J-1 visas to only four years. While the fight isn’t over, this major win is thanks to the power of hundreds of thousands of union members coming together.

Last month, after the Department of Homeland Security proposed limiting F-1 and J-1 visas to a maximum of four years, UAW joined a lawsuit with other unions and immigration groups challenging the change. On Monday, a federal judge sided with UAW members and blocked the change from going into effect. As a result, the existing Duration of Status policy that allows F-1 and J-1 visa holders to remain in the U.S. for the length of their program remains in place for now.

"This ruling is a win for the researchers, grad workers, and postdocs who power the discoveries coming out of our nation's labs and teach the next generation," the UAW Higher Education Department wrote. "Many UAW members are international students and scholars doing transformative work in medicine, engineering, climate science, and beyond—often on the strength of exactly the kind of stability this rule would have stripped away."