Sign up for Executive Dysfunction, a weekly newsletter that highlights one under-the-radar story about how Trump is changing the law—or how the law is pushing back—and keeps you posted on the latest from Slate’s Jurisprudence team.

During President Donald Trump’s second term, much of the work of implementing his anti-immigrant agenda has been public, ugly, and violent: the draconian border policies, the cruel revocations of humanitarian parole programs, the murderous gangs of secret police dispatched to snatch people off the streets, and so on. But White House officials are also on the lookout for more obscure, overlooked ways that they can warp existing federal law to reduce the number of nonwhite people in this country at any given moment.

One recent initiative of this type relates to the visas held by international students, researchers and scholars, and journalists. For years, holders of these visas have been admitted for “duration of status,” which means they can stay for as long as they are making normal progress in their respective educational programs. Foreign journalists have been subject to a similarly flexible standard that allows them to remain in the country on an open-ended basis, provided that they continue working for the same employer.

Back in July, though, the Department of Homeland Security issued a rule to close this “loophole” and replace the “duration of status” system with very specific fixed periods: a maximum of four years for students and scholars, and just 240 days for journalists. Under the new regime, visa holders who need more time will have to file formal applications with the federal government, subjecting themselves to additional background checks, biometric vetting, and other bureaucratic hurdles. The way that this administration has attacked foreign students over free speech suggests that this visa renewal application process could also be used to target the administration’s ideological foes. According to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, though, the change is necessary to protect “national security,” prevent “immigration fraud,” and ensure that “foreign students remain focused on their primary purpose: completing........

© Slate