## Student visas move from duration of status to a fixed end date

**Harvard is advising some international students and scholars to be in the United States by Sept. 15.** The [Harvard Crimson](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/8/21/hio-students-visa-rule/) reports that the university is advising F-1 and J-1 students and J-1 scholars in on-campus programs to try to be in the country when DHS’s [final rule](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/07/17/2026-14439/establishing-a-fixed-time-period-of-admission-and-an-extension-of-stay-procedure-for-nonimmigrant) takes effect. Mexico City’s [Excelsior](https://www.excelsior.com.mx/internacional/universidades-y-sindicatos-demandan-gobierno-eu-por-nueva-regla-migratoria) describes the same rule and the coalition lawsuit seeking to stop it.

The rule replaces Duration of Status with fixed admission periods—generally up to four years for F-1 and J-1 students, with an “Admit Until Date” on the I-94—and shortens the F-1 post-completion grace period from 60 days to 30. It is scheduled to take effect Sept. 15, subject to congressional review. The lawsuit’s preliminary-injunction request has not been granted; Harvard says the rule remains in place for now.

## What changes to green-card rules and USCIS forms mean

**The public-charge rule changes how DHS evaluates some applications for admission or a green card.** The [Federal Register](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/07/20/2026-14539/public-charge-ground-of-inadmissibility) says it replaces the 2022 framework on Sept. 18. [USCIS guidance](https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/uscis-issues-guidance-on-making-public-charge-inadmissibility-determination) says the new approach applies to applications to enter the United States and to Form I-485 filings submitted on or after that date. Officers will review each case as a whole and may consider specified benefits received on or after Sept. 18; earlier benefits remain under the prior framework. Receiving a benefit alone does not mean an application will be denied. [The Hill](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/6040983-green-card-applicants-face-scrutiny/) describes the added scrutiny green-card applicants may face, while [La Nacion](https://www.lanacion.com.ar/estados-unidos/visas-y-tramites/carga-publica-del-uscis-que-cambia-para-los-migrantes-con-la-entrada-en-vigor-de-la-nueva-guia-el-18-nid20082026/) explains the practical changes for migrants.

**USCIS is also replacing three key forms, with no grace period.** Form I-485 is the green-card application; Form I-539 extends or changes some temporary stays; and Form I-765 is the work-permit application. The new [09/18/26 I-485 edition](https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/uscis-to-publish-new-edition-of-form-i-485-older-editions-will-be-rejected-starting-sept-18) replaces the 01/20/25 edition. The new [09/15/26 I-539 and I-765 editions](https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/uscis-to-publish-new-editions-of-form-i-539-and-form-i-765-older-editions-will-be-rejected-starting) replace the 08/28/24 and 08/21/25 editions. USCIS says filings after each cutoff must use the current edition or be rejected.

## After TPS decisions, workers and families face new realities

**Sudan and Ukraine are in an interim phase, not a settled endpoint.** [USCIS’s Sudan page](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-sudan) and [Ukraine page](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-ukraine) list Oct. 19 as the current end date and describe individualized notices extending certain pending renewal applicants’ EADs through that date. [Through the Immigration Lens](https://www.throughtheimmigrationlens.com/2026/08/another-one-falls-somalia-tps-terminates-as-uscis-issues-ukraine-and-sudan-notices/) notes that what happens afterward remains unresolved.

**Honduras illustrates the downstream question.** [Infobae](https://www.infobae.com/honduras/2026/08/18/honduras-prepara-el-retorno-de-migrantes-tras-cancelacion-de-tps-y-pide-a-estados-unidos-una-transicion/) reports that the Honduran government is planning for possible returns while emphasizing that losing TPS does not mean everyone returns immediately. Other applications, family circumstances and litigation can change a person’s options.

## Churches, TPS and the politics of immigration enforcement

**A federal appeals court kept tighter limits on immigration enforcement at the houses of worship covered by a lawsuit.** [Politico](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/20/immigration-enforcement-churches-contempt), [Government Executive](https://www.govexec.com/management/2026/08/appeals-court-limits-dhs-immigration-enforcement-churches/415518/?oref=ge-category-lander-top-story) and [Maryland Matters](https://marylandmatters.org/2026/08/19/appeals-court-upholds-ban-on-immigration-enforcement-at-some-churches/) report that the Fourth Circuit upheld a preliminary injunction requiring DHS agents to follow the more restrictive 2021 sensitive-places rules at the plaintiff congregations while the case continues. The ruling is not a nationwide ban: warrants and some emergency actions remain exceptions.

**In Ohio, churches are part of the response to the end of Haiti’s TPS.** In a conversation with [Austin Kocher](https://austinkocher.substack.com/p/our-faith-is-calling-us-to-take-care), Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman described congregations that built relationships in Haiti, sponsored people who fled, and are now confronting the possibility of their neighbors’ deportation. He pointed to Republican Gov. Mike DeWine’s description of deporting those families as “sending them back to hell.”

## Colorado, GEO and the limits of detention oversight

**Colorado’s fight with GEO Group is to gain access to records needed for a tuberculosis investigation.** [The Colorado Sun](https://coloradosun.com/2026/08/20/geo-group-immigrant-detention-center-public-health/) and [Denver Post](https://www.denverpost.com/2026/08/19/colorado-sues-geo-group-tuberculosis-aurora-detention-center/) report that the state sued after GEO missed a deadline to provide records about a June case at the Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, Colorado. A separate ruling blocked parts of Colorado’s new detention-inspection law, according to [Colorado Newsline](https://coloradonewsline.com/briefs/judge-colorado-immigration-detention-center-inspections/).

The facility’s May [ICE Office of Detention Oversight report](https://www.ice.gov/doclib/foia/odo-compliance-inspections/DenverCDF_AuroraCO_May12-14_2026.pdf) rated it **Superior**, with all 29 reviewed standards compliant and zero deficiencies. That is an internal ICE assessment under its own standards, not an independent resolution of the TB records dispute or evidence that GEO caused a particular infection; this week the [Project on Government Oversight](https://www.pogo.org/investigates/inside-ices-broken-system-for-inspecting-detention-facilities) published a deep dive into what they call ICE’s “broken” facility inspection system.