GOP Congressman Riley M. Moore has written to new DHS Secretary Markway Mullin to eliminate the OPT, STEM-OPT and CPT programs to save jobs for American graduates. He is not the first person to raise the demand amid the ongoing H-1B controversy, but he detailed how these programs allowing foreign students to enter the workforce make a mockery of Congress’s original intent. The Congressman said, “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 nonimmigrant worker programs that replace American workers with foreign workers.”“For years, Big Tech lobbyists have quietly worked with the previous administration to turn ‘practical training’ programs into a backdoor pipeline for cheap foreign labor. They also urge DHS to secretly rewrite the OPT rules to avoid the H-1B cap intentionally imposed by Congress. “This regulatory trickery not only makes a mockery of Congress’s clear intent for the student visa program, but gives powerful corporations exactly what they want: an unlimited supply of low-wage, 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 allows students to work in a job related to their studies for practical experience. Its validity is 12 months.STEM students get a 24-month extension on their one-year OPT.CPT (Curriculum Practical Training) is work authorization that is part of an academic program. Unlike OPT, it can be done only during the course. It is university approved and many people choose it when they get status in the US.Riley Moore said these programs are a good deal for foreign students to get practical training but over time they have become a bridge between temporary student visas and long-term H-1B status.Describing how the programs evolved, Moore said, “Since 1947, government programs have existed to provide opportunities for foreign students to gain experience, such as brief internships. But in 1992, the Bush administration quietly transformed those programs into the modern OPT, allowing foreigners to live and work in the US for a full year.”“By 2007, the H-1B visa limit 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 solved by extending the OPT period. It worked. The 2008 Chertoff rule extended STEM OPTs to 17 months without any public notice or congressional approval. Nearly Eight years later, the Obama administration extended the OPT again, bringing the total length of stay in the US after graduation to 36 months,” he said, adding that about 450,000 foreigners hold jobs that should be held by Americans.He said, “Big Tech loves this system. Foreigners accept low wages. They can’t hold down jobs or ask for promotions. And almost every one of them is exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes, saving billions.”
