President Donald Trump has moved to curb the number of foreign journalists who can work in America by significantly reducing the time they can stay in the country.
After embarking on a mass deportation plan to get rid of illegal immigrants, the administration has now set its sights on legal immigration, with a dramatic shakeup of visas for members of the media, as well as students and cultural exchange visitors.
The move would reduce the duration of an I Visa, which allows foreign correspondents to cover U.S. news and current affairs, from five years to 240 days, equivalent to eight months.
For Chinese nationals, the visa duration would be 90 days, while the periods for student visas and cultural exchange visas would be no longer than four years.
The move sent ripples across Washington’s foreign media this week, with many of them based at the White House, covering the Trump administration, or on Capitol Hill, reporting on Congress.
Critics view the proposed regulation as an extension of ongoing attacks against press freedom, such as the $1.1 billion cut in public broadcasting funds, or the White House previously banning AP from the briefing room for refusing to call the “Gulf of Mexico” the “Gulf of America”.
However, the Trump administration claims that the changes would reduce the likelihood of “visa abuse” and enhance the Department of Homeland Security’s ability to vet and oversee certain visa holders.
“For too long, past Administrations have allowed foreign students and other visa holders to remain in the U.S. virtually indefinitely, posing safety risks, costing untold amounts of taxpayer dollars, and disadvantaging U.S. citizens,” a DHS spokesperson said.
The proposed regulations mirror a proposal put forward in 2020 at the end of Trump’s first term, and the public will have 30 days to comment on the measure.
But the changes, if adopted, would create new hurdles for international students on F Visas, cultural exchange workers on J Visas, and foreign journalists on I Visas, who would have to apply to extend their stay rather than maintain a more flexible legal status.
The 240-day limit for foreign journalists, down from a five-year stay, could also deter international media companies from sending journalists under such uncertain conditions.
The DHS states that foreign journalists would be eligible for an extension period of up to eight months, but no longer than the duration of the temporary activity or assignment.
“It’s brutal,” one correspondent said on Thursday. Others branded it as “undemocratic.”
According to U.S. Government data, there were about 1.6 million international students in the U.S. in 2024, 355,000 exchange visitors, and 13,000 members of the foreign media.
Asked about the changes, a State Department spokesperson told The Daily Beast: “The Trump Administration is focused on protecting our nation and our citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process.”
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