The Trump administration has said it will drastically shorten visas for foreign journalists in the US to 240 days, down from five years, and cut those for Chinese journalists to only 90 days.
The rule announced by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will do away with the “duration of status” system, which allows foreign journalists to stay and work in the United States as long as they meet eligibility requirements.
In addition to journalists, the new visas rules will also affect foreign students and exchange visitors that the government said had also been allowed to “remain in the United States indefinitely without routine government oversight”.
“For nearly half a century, the outdated ‘duration of status’ system has compromised national security and created an environment ripe for immigration fraud,” said the DHS secretary, Markwayne Mullin.
“For decades, foreign students have been admitted into the US indefinitely, allowing thousands to abuse our immigration system by perpetually enrolling in courses to avoid having to leave the US.”
By implementing “clear, finite limits” on the visas, Mullin said, the US “is reclaiming its ability to properly screen, vet and monitor individuals within our borders”.
Advocates for foreign journalists oppose the change, arguing that drastically shorter stays will restrict their ability to live and work in the country.
“We are outraged that the Trump administration has cruelly limited the duration of visas for foreign journalists from a period of up to five years to a fixed eight months,” the advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said in a statement.
The Committee to Protect Journalists released a statement calling the new visa policy “the behavior of a backsliding democracy, not the international vanguard of free speech”.
Foreign journalists are not considered immigrants, and visas can be extended, but the organization said that a “relentless cycle of visa renewals restricts press freedom, as journalists will feel compelled to avoid drawing the administration’s ire, lest their applications be rejected”.
The decision comes as Donald Trump is targeting news organizations with multiple threats and legal actions at home and his administration is tightening immigration policies.
Under the new system, which will take effect 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register, Chinese journalists will be especially restricted from working in the US.
The first Trump administration proposed a 90-day rule in 2020 but it was dropped by the Biden administration. In response to its revival, China’s foreign ministry said the decision was “discriminatory”.
“China urges the US to immediately revoke its discriminatory policies targeting Chinese journalists and effectively safeguard their lawful rights and interests in the US,” said a foreign ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, adding that China “reserves the right to take reciprocal countermeasures”.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
