EDITORS' CORNER
Schools include Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Arizona State, MIT, Brown
The Trump administration has launched an investigation into eight universities over alleged visa fraud, Vice President JD Vance announced Thursday.
“America’s most elite universities bring in foreigners … to undercut the wages of American residents,” Vance said at a press conference.
He announced that the administration is investigating Harvard University, Yale University, Stanford University, Brown University, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of California Davis, the California Institute of Technology, Arizona State University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“What we see is that when you employ an American worker as a graduate student, as a researcher, they’re making about $20,000 more than someone brought in under a J-1 visa,” Vance said.
He added that these institutions utilize J-1 visas for federally funded grants at a rate of roughly 61 percent, well above the 38 percent national average.
“So something weird is going on at these universities,” Vance said.
“They’re using these visas way too much. They’re using them to undercut the wages of American grad students and American researchers, and it simply has to stop,” he said.
Brown University spokesperson Brian Clark told the Brown Daily Herald that the school has “received a subpoena from the government for various records pertaining to foreign labor programs administered by the U.S. government.”
“Brown’s international scholars, students and employees make essential contributions on our campus, including to teaching and research that advances American innovation, competitiveness and economic vitality,” Clark stated.
This probe marks the latest of several efforts in a sweeping crackdown on work visas and international student enrollment.
In a Wednesday news release, the Department of Homeland Security introduced the proposal to impose a $70,000 fee for every international student who participates in the optional practical training program. The OPT allows F-1 visa holders to work legally in the U.S. in jobs related to their major.
Schools would also face a $30,000 fee for each additional OPT period requested by an F-1 student.
International student enrollment is projected to drop by nearly 111,000 students this fall, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
“This downturn reflects the convergence of several headwinds: declining application volumes, persistent visa appointment bottlenecks, and newly restrictive immigration policy changes,” the NAFSA report states.
However, a spokesperson from the Center for Immigration Studies told The College Fix that declines in international enrollment are not necessarily a bad thing.
“When the government begins enforcing the rules of an immigration program, people who were planning to misuse that program have less incentive to come,” Marguerite Telford said.
MORE: Harvard will stop granting internships to foreign law students
