September 17, 2026: Immigration News for International Students in the US
No new proposed names of landmarks or geographic features this week ...but one headline I heard that made my head turn this week...
"We're finally hearing from duct tape man."
*Stops chopping vegetables for dinner*
If you're like me and thought, who the heck is duct tape man...well.
Apparently a 67-year-old passenger got so violent on an American Airlines flight from Dallas to Newark that two other passengers zip-tied and duct-taped him to his own first-class seat.
The plane made an emergency landing in Baltimore, where police and the FBI were waiting for him.
So what did "duct tape man" have to say for himself?
He doesn't remember anything.
Air travel..I tell you...you just never know what will happen. But at least this week for international students, we got some answers about duration of status...but some other equally-surprising headlines:
📰 Top Headlines:
A judge blocked the rule ending D/S...one day before it was set to take effect
The OPT fee rule cleared the White House, but we still don't know what's in it
A new bill would cap international athletes at 20% of any college team roster
📣 Special Feature: Researchers want to hear directly from F-1 students...because decisions keep getting made about international students without asking them.
🔍 Interesting Find: Americans without college degrees are having one of their best job markets in years...which is interesting timing, given how immigration policy is being framed right now.
🌍 Immigration Corner Deep Dive: A closer look why the judge approved the preliminary injunction to pause changing anything with duration of status...and what happens next.
Writing, then going back to making dinner...
Carrie at International Student Voice ⭐info@istudentvoice.com
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Immigration News for International Students in the US
📰 TOP 3 HEADLINES FROM THE WEEK: Immigration news for international students in the US
⚖️ A judge blocked the rule ending duration of status (Reuters | Higher Ed Dive)
Judge F. Dennis Saylor issued a preliminary injunction on September 14 in a 48-page ruling, finding the lawsuit likely to succeed and saying colleges would face immediate irreparable harm if the rule took effect while the case played out.
He rejected both of the government's justifications, writing that the national security argument "borders on the absurd," and he criticized DHS for barely changing the rule after receiving 22,000 comments that overwhelmingly opposed it.
An injunction is a pause, not an ending...so duration of status stays in place while the lawsuit plays out. The next court date is October 2, I'll be sure to keep following! But for now, a little relief.
💸 The OPT fee rule cleared the White House...but we still don't know what's going on (Fragomen | Bloomberg Law | Business Standard)
Quick explainer before I start: Before a federal agency can propose a new rule, it sends the draft to a White House office that reviews regulations privately. "Clearing" that review doesn't approve anything — it just means the draft can move to the next step, where the rest of us finally get to read it. OK - here's what to know:
ICE sent a proposed rule called "Optional Practical Training Fees" to that office on August 20, and it cleared on September 11...which is fast, especially since the rule never showed up on the list of regulations DHS said it was working on back in July.
When I shared this story a few weeks ago, the speculation was that OPT fee could jump to $100,000 — and that's still all it is, speculation, because DHS hasn't officially confirmed an amount, hasn't said who would pay it, and hasn't said whether STEM OPT would be treated differently.
What's next: The proposed rule gets published in the Federal Register, and the government is required to let the public comment on it, usually 30 or 60 days, before anything can take effect. So nothing to pay right now...but everybody's waiting to see what this thing actually says.
🏅 A new bill would cap international athletes at 20% of any college team roster (Sen. Husted | Inside Higher Ed)
Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio and Rep. Tim Walberg of Michigan introduced the TEAM USA Act on Monday, which would limit international athletes to 20% of each varsity roster — one athlete on teams smaller than 10 — and schools that don't comply could lose access to federal student aid.
The sponsors argue American students are getting squeezed out, pointing to international scholarship recipients nearly tripling since 2001 to roughly 25,000, and to the 2024 Paris Olympics, where most NCAA athletes who competed were representing countries other than the U.S.
Here's where it would actually land: Division I tennis rosters run roughly 60-65% international, golf sits around a third, and about a fifth of D1 basketball players are international...but this is a brand new bill that hasn't had a vote, wouldn't take effect until the 2029-30 school year, and Congress needs to pass the bill before it becomes law.
📣 SPECIAL FEATURE
💪 International Students: Your Voice Can Help Inform Research
If you are concerned about the policy and regulatory issues affecting international students in the United States, here is one concrete way to make your perspective heard.
The Institute for Progress is conducting an anonymous survey of current and former F-1 students about how international students think about their U.S. education, careers, and opportunities for practical work experience such as OPT. Researchers hope the results will provide better evidence about how potential policy changes could affect the decisions international students make.
The survey takes less than 10 minutes, you can be completely anonymous, and results will be reported only in aggregate.
Current or former F-1 student?
Please consider taking a few minutes to participate.
DSO, international student advisor, or educator? Please consider sharing the survey with current and former F-1 students in your community. The more student perspectives represented, the more useful the research can be.
Deadline: September 30, 2026.
🔍 INTERESTING FIND
🔧 Americans without college degrees are having one of their best job markets in years. (Wall Street Journal)
Americans ages 22 to 34 without college degrees are experiencing one of their strongest job markets since 2003, which researchers attribute partly to lower immigration and retiring blue-collar workers leaving too few trained replacements.
Meanwhile, unemployment is moving in the opposite direction for college graduates as white-collar hiring slows and AI begins replacing some entry-level work.
College graduates still have lower unemployment overall, but compared with historical norms, the more hands-on and in-person the job, the stronger today’s market tends to be.
I find it interesting, at a time when immigration policy is increasingly being framed around protecting high-skilled jobs for Americans, many Americans without degrees are already finding strong demand in the hands-on jobs employers are struggling to fill.
News in 1 Sentence
A federal judge blocked DHS and ICE from taking further action against a New York man after agents tracked him to his home, an airport and a hotel over a harshly worded email he sent criticizing ICE's former acting director, with the judge finding the threat of prosecution had forced him to self-censor.
(opinion article) International student visa appointments got squeezed by the FIFA World Cup, with the U.S. prioritizing foreign ticket holders during the exact window when student and exchange applicants needed appointments — one factor behind South Dakota's public universities losing 237 international students this year.
DEEP DIVE: IMMIGRATION CORNER 🛂
Duration of Status is staying...for now.
Here's more of what you need to know
The rule ending duration of status was set to take effect Tuesday, September 15. On Monday, U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor blocked it.
Forty-eight pages, with one day to spare. Phew.
Last week I walked through what happened at the hearing. Now we have the answer.
Friendly reminder: What an injunction is
A preliminary injunction is a pause, not an ending. It stops a rule from taking effect while the lawsuit plays out.
The court isn't saying the rule is dead. It's saying: don't do this yet, because the people suing are likely to win, and real damage would happen in the meantime.
So duration of status stays in place for now. Nothing about your status changed on Tuesday.
What the lawsuit actually argues
The plaintiffs aren't arguing DHS lacks the power to end duration of status.
They're arguing DHS broke the rules federal agencies have to follow when making a change this big — a law called the Administrative Procedure Act.
That's a narrower claim, and it's a big reason the case is winnable.
What the judge said
The national security argument fell apart. DHS pointed to a handful of incidents that a four-year cap wouldn't have prevented anyway. Saylor wrote that the claim the rule is needed to safeguard national security "borders on the absurd."
The comment period was too short. He called the 32-day window "exceptionally short, and barely legal." DHS received 22,000 comments, overwhelmingly opposed — and then published a final rule that barely differed from the proposal.
There was no real analysis. DHS didn't explain why it skipped less burdensome alternatives, and didn't conduct a reasoned cost-benefit review.
The extension process worried him most. Under the rule, a single DHS official, using vague criteria, with no possibility of appeal, could cut short anyone's studies, research, or teaching for any reason or no reason.
Saylor wrote that it isn't hard to imagine that system being used to punish people whose viewpoints or research the government dislikes, or to punish entire institutions.
And one line worth sitting with. The gap between the stated justifications and what the rule actually does, Saylor wrote, raises questions about whether the real purpose is something else entirely — like asserting greater government control over academic institutions.
That's a federal judge saying the quiet part out loud.
What happens next
The next hearing is October 2. DHS can appeal. This could stretch on for months.
What this means for you
Nothing changes right now. Keep following the same rules you've been following, keep your documents in order, and stay in touch with your international office.
But, unfortunately, don't read this as permanent. The rule is paused, not completely gone.
Sources:
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Disclaimer: International Student Voice is not an immigration attorney or immigration advisor. The purpose of this newsletter is strictly educational. Always consult with qualified legal counsel for advice specific to your situation.
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