Good News
On Sept. 14, U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV of the US District Court in Boston blocked proposed Department of Homeland Security rule changes affecting foreign journalists, international students and visiting professors. The injunction arose from a lawsuit by a coalition of education organizations. In his 48-page decision, Saylor said DHS had not adequately addressed criticism of the plan, the plaintiffs were likely to prevail at trial, and the agency’s effort to enact the changes was “arbitrary and capricious.”
Before the rule’s Sept. 15 effective date, a coalition of about 30 nonprofit journalism and press freedom organizations urged Congress to intervene. Led by SPJ, the Arab & Middle Eastern Journalists Association, the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Foreign Press Association of the USA, the coalition opposed eliminating the “duration of service” provision. That provision allowed foreign journalists employed by non-U.S.-based news organizations to remain in the United States, subject to a 240-day limit.
The journalism coalition warned that an arbitrary renewal process could expose foreign journalists to government pressure. SPJ International Chair Dan Kubiske noted that China, Hong Kong and Russia have used renewals to punish foreign journalists for unfavorable reporting. Members said the proposed rules could similarly encourage self-censorship by making journalists fear that their work status would not be renewed.
Saylor said DHS had not addressed similar self-censorship concerns raised during the public comment period. “Nor did DHS respond to apparently well-founded concerns as to retaliatory actions by other nations against US journalists working abroad,” he wrote.
We now need to see what comes next.
Most likely the government will appeal. (It always has.)
In the meantime, with the court’s ruling gives press and academic freedom advocates more time to contact their Members of Congress and Senators to either stop the implementation of the rule change or, at minimum, to use their oversight authority to ensure that the renewal process is transparent and adheres to Constitutional procedures, including adherence to the First Amendment.
This report was first published at the SPJ International Community site.
The SPJ issued a statement on the decision: