Kamal Ghorui
Congressman Riley Moore urges DHS to end OPT, STEM OPT extension and CPT programs.
GOP Congressman Riley M Moore has written to new DHS secretary Markwayne Mullin to end OPT, STEM-OPT and CPT programs to save jobs for American graduates. He is not the first one to raise the demand amid the ongoing H-1B controversy but he detailed how these programs that allow foreign students to enter the workforce mock Congress’s original intent. “At a time when new graduates are entering one of the most challenging job markets in recent history, it is troubling that corporations and universities continue to exploit non-immigrant worker programs that replace American workers with foreign labor,” the Congressman said.“For year, Big Tech lobbyists have quietly worked with previous administrations to turn ‘practical training’ programs into backdoor pipelines for cheap foreign labor. They even urges the DHS to rewrite OPT regulations in secret to avoid H-1B caps Congress deliberately imposed. This regulatory sleight-of-hand not only mocks Congress’s clear intent for the student visa program but also hands powerful corporations exactly what they want: a limitless supply of underpaid, tax-advantaged workers to displace America’s own talent,” Riley wrote.
What are OPT, OPT extension and CPT?
OPT (Optional Practical Training) is a temporary work authorization for F-1 students in the US that lets the students work in a job related to their study for hands-on experience. It has a validity for 12 months.STEM students get an extension on their one-year OPT for 24 months.CPT (Curricular Practical Training) is work authorization which is part of an academic program. Unlike OPT, this can be done during the course only. This is approved by the university and many opt for it when they run out of status in the US.Riley Moore said these programs are a sweet deal for foreign students to get practical training but over time they became a bridge between temporary student visas and long-term H-1B status.“Since 1947, government programs have existed to provide foreign students with opportunities to have brief internship-like experiences. But in 1992, the Bush administration quietly transformed those programs into the modern OPT, allowing foreigners to stay in the US and work for a full year,” Moore said explaining how the programs evolved.“By 2007, the H-1B visa cap was limiting Microsoft’s access to cheap foreign labor. At a dinner party in 2007, a Microsoft lobbyist proposed to DHS Secretary Chertoff that the H-1B problem could be circumvented by extending OPT’s duration. It worked. The 2008 Chertoff rule extended STEM OPT by 17 months without any public notice or Congressional approval. Nearly 8 years later, the Obama administration extended OPT again, bringing the total time foreigners could remain in America after graduating to 36 months,” he said adding that nearly 450,000 foreigners hold jobs that should belong to Americans.“Big Tech loves this arrangement. Foreigners accept lower wages. They can’t job-hop or demand a promotion. And almost every single one of them is exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes, saving billions,” he added.
