The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is proposing new restrictions on how long foreign journalists can stay in the United States legally, calling for stricter oversight of visa holders’ activities while in the U.S.
In a proposed rule published in the Federal Register on Thursday, DHS calls for limiting the foreign journalist visa to eight months. DHS said foreign journalists would be eligible for an extension period of up to eight months, but no longer than the length of the temporary activity or assignment.
The rule also calls for limiting foreign students and exchange visitors to a period of four years. The public has 30 days to offer comments on the rule.
Previously, journalists could apply for visas covering the length of their proposed stay, and renew extensions for one year at a time. Journalists from the People’s Republic of China are only allowed to stay in the U.S. for up to 90 days.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday said they opposed “the U.S.’s discriminatory move targeting a specific country.”
The rule comes as the Trump administration has broadly looked to crack down on visa holders, including by revoking student visas held by pro-Palestine protesters, in particular on college campuses.
As part of its immigration crackdown, the administration temporarily suspended interviews for foreign students but then reinstated them with new guidelines, including demanding the ability to review their social media posts.
Last week, the administration said it was launching a review of all 55 million valid visa holders for any violations that could lead to deportation.
The latest proposed change is sure to raise questions over how the Trump administration will vet journalists, including those present and wishing to extend their stay.
The White House has previously punished outlets for disagreements over coverage.
In July, the administration banned The Wall Street Journal from joining the press pool of President Trump’s trip to Scotland, accusing the paper of defamation for its reporting on ties between the president and the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In February, the White House banned The Associated Press from the press pool because it did not adopt the administration’s name change of the Gulf of Mexico.
The proposed regulation floats some review of content, and seems to draw a line at “reality” entertainment content.
The State Department “considers journalistic information as content that is primarily informational in nature, such as the reporting on recent or important events, investigative reporting, or producing educational materials, such as documentaries. It does not include content that is primarily designed to provide entertainment rather than information, including scripted or contrived situations, such as most ‘reality television’ shows,” the regulation states.
DHS sets regulations for visa holders while the State Department and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services determine qualifications.
DHS said that a significant increase in the volume of student visa applicants and holders (F visas), exchange visitors (J visas) and foreign journalists (I visas) “poses a challenge to the Department’s ability to monitor and oversee these nonimmigrants while they are in the United States.”
In 2023, there were more than 1.6 million admissions of F visa holders, 500,000 admissions of J visa holders, and 32,470 admissions for I visa holders.
“The proposed rule would ensure an effective mechanism for DHS to periodically and directly assess whether these nonimmigrants are complying with the conditions of their classifications and U.S. immigration laws, as well as allow DHS to obtain timely and accurate information about the activities they have engaged in and plan to engage in during their temporary stay in the United States.”
These visa holders can apply to extend their stay with DHS.
“DHS believes that this process would help to mitigate risks posed by aliens who seek to exploit these programs and live in the United States on a non-temporary basis in contradiction with the underlying statutory language that applies to their nonimmigrant status,” the rule reads.
DHS said the change would “impose incremental costs” on visa holders, schools and exchange visitor programs. Over a 10-year period of analysis, DHS estimates that the proposed rule would have annual costs of a little more than $390 million.
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