Press Freedom

OPC Calls on U.S. Government to Rescind Rules Severely Restricting Journalist Visas for Foreign Press

NEW YORK, July 20, 2026 — The Overseas Press Club of America joins other journalism organizations in calling on the Department of Homeland Security to immediately rescind rules that would severely restrict visas for foreign journalists and would have the effect of placing significant limits on foreign correspondents living in the United States and working as journalists here.

We join groups including the National Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists and others in opposing these anti-free press practices. The concern, among others, is that such restrictions could be used to punish foreign journalists whose reporting the administration and government does not favor.

Also, limiting foreign journalists to effective 240-day “stays” in the U.S. curtails their ability to write, report and edit in the U.S. and creates significant uncertainty for such journalists. It also places an undue burden on foreign and global news organizations in planning their U.S. coverage. The more severe limit of 90 days for Chinese nationals places even more hardship on these journalists and their news organizations.

A further concern is that other governments, including China, could retaliate and place similar restrictions on U.S. journalists working in their countries.

The OPC strongly supports the right of overseas media to report unhindered in the U.S. given the right to press freedom embedded in the U.S. Constitution. We urge the U.S. government to immediately rescind these proposals and evaluate visa requests from overseas journalists in a fair way that supports press freedom.