BUZZ
Proposal aims to curb ‘fraud and abuse’
Universities may be required to pay a fee of up to $100,000 for international students who want to work in the U.S., pending a new effort by the Trump administration to limit foreign 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 face a $30,000 fee for each additional OPT period requested by an F-1 student.
“Optional Practical Training was never meant to be a back door into the American workforce, a subsidy for cheap labor, or a prize for those who game the system,” a DHS spokesperson said.
“DHS is upskilling OPT to require foreign students to justify their worth to employers. American workers should not have to compete against a program that has been turned into a pipeline for cheap foreign labor,” the spokesperson said.
The proposal aims to address “fraud and abuse identified by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program,” according to the news release.
As participation in the OPT program has grown, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program reports that schools, employers, and students have increasingly exploited existing rules through questionable work arrangements and “pay-to-stay” visa scams.
“DHS believes the proposed fees would encourage schools to exercise greater oversight and selectivity when recommending F-1 nonimmigrant students for OPT, helping reduce fraud and strengthen program integrity,” the release states.
It also states that the proposal aims “to reduce the flow of cheap labor into the United States and make it easier for American citizens to compete in the job market.”
Some experts were quick to criticize the proposal on social media.
Jeremy Neufeld, the director of immigration policy at the Institute for Progress, argued the move will reduce OPT participation and harm the economy.
“Once you account for the fact this will shrink the skilled STEM workforce, this kind of change will conservatively cost the US $240-481 billion a year, or about $1,000 per household,” Neufeld wrote.
Meanwhile, international enrollment is declining nationwide. New data from Common App shows that while foreign applications are down 10 percent, The College Fix reported.
However, there is an increase among black, low-income, rural, and small-town applicants as the Trump administration “dramatically” changes the “landscape” of higher education through its “hard-line immigration policies,” according to Inside Higher Ed.
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