Much of the national conversation about immigration reform is rightly focused on the need to secure our southern border but many aspects of immigration system need reform. One example is the Optional Practical Training Program (OPT), which allows foreign students to work in the U.S. after they have graduated.
What began in 2007 as a lobbying campaign to bypass Congressional gridlock led by Microsoft has turned into a glaring problem with our immigration system. That year, Microsoft led an effort to expand the OPT after they realized that they would not be able to increase their access to foreign workers through Congressional legislation. The effort was successful. The annual cap on the program (then set at 65,000) was removed and the duration of the program tripled without Congressional legislation. The number of students participating in the OPT program has risen from 24,838 in 2007, to 200,162 in 2018. Over the same period, the students participating in the STEM OPT extension has increased from 2 to 69,650.
Congress never intended the program to grow in this way. To turn OPT back into a program that can be managed, I just introduced the Responsible Practical Training Act. This act would cut the duration of OPT programs to a maximum of 6 months, prohibit foreign students who are studying in military related fields from participating, and help to inform future policy by ordering a wage-study of the effect that these programs have on American workers.
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