Embattled Foreign Student Tech Job Program Gets Republican Boost

The Trump administration needs to preserve a program that allows international students work in the U.S. for up to three years after graduating, a group of House Republicans said this week.

The program, known as Optional Practical Training, is opposed by many conservatives who have pushed for the White House to suspend it in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The White House reportedly plans to limit practical training as part of a wider package of restrictions on non-immigrant visa programs.

Preserving the program would “send the right messages abroad about the U.S. as an attractive destination for international students,” Steve Stivers (Ohio) and 20 other House Republicans wrote in a June 2 letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf.

Colleges, Employers Fear Curbs to Foreign Student Job Program

Weakening Optional Practical Training opportunities would make the U.S. less competitive with countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and China, the lawmakers wrote.

International students from China study together in the Silicon Valley city of Palo Alto on March 12, 2020 to break from the on-campus isolation at nearby Stanford University during the coronavirus.

Glenn Chapman/AFP via Getty Images

“We are also aware that some nations may seek to exploit certain international student programs for their benefit, against our national interests, and against the spirit of research in American universities,” the letter said. “There are strategic and targeted approaches to combating those practices without weakening or suspending in full our international student programs.”

The program allows international students on F-1 visas to work for 12 months in their field of study. Students in STEM fields like engineering and computer science can extend their eligibility for up to three years after graduating.

A group of Senate Republicans told President Donald Trump last month that international students benefiting from the program are taking jobs that could go to unemployed Americans. Employers and colleges counter that those graduates are getting hired for high-skill jobs that companies would struggle to fill otherwise.

Optional Practical Training is an indispensable tool to bring international students to U.S. campuses, Peter McPherson, president of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, said in a statement.