Latest On The Court Cases That Could Restrict Optional Practical Training (OPT) and ways to sign on to Amicus Brief against suit challenging OPT

A recent Forbes interview with former American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) President William Stock highlights two important lawsuits that may affect whether international students and the spouses of H-1B visa holders will continue to be permitted to work in the United States. According to Mr. Stock, "Based on the adverse impacts, eliminating [Optional Practical Training (OPT) for F-1 international students and H-4 work authorization] would be bad policy."

Mr. Stock elaborates that “Eliminating OPT work authorization would make U.S. universities much less attractive to foreign students. International students represent a $40 billion contribution to our economy from abroad, supporting over 450,000 U.S. jobs, according to NAFSA. Not only would world-class students begin to choose Canada, Australia or other countries over the United States for higher education in greater numbers, but high-tech industries would have no choice but to expand employment in other countries where the talent pool of highly qualified students doing cutting-edge research is located. Eliminating H-4 work authorization would stop about 90,000 highly skilled women from continuing to contribute to the economy, costing billions in lost tax revenue, without any net job creation for U.S. workers. Based on the adverse impacts, eliminating those two programs would be bad policy.”

The Presidents’ Alliance for Higher Education and Immigration and NAFSA: Association of International Educators are working to coordinate an amicus brief for higher education institutions to join, to be filed with the Court in support of OPT. The brief would outline the importance of OPT to institutions, their students, and higher education in this country, highlighting the value of OPT as an important educational component to a student’s program of study, as a key complement to the classroom experience, and as supplemental training and experiential learning. The deadline to join this amicus brief is October 11, 2019.

Institutions can learn more and express interest in joining the brief here.