The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has suggested charging international students $70,000 to work in the country, the latest step by the Trump administration to tighten laws around overseas students and immigration.
Under the proposed rule, schools would be responsible for paying the fee for each international student participating in the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, which allows eligible foreign students to work in jobs related to their fields of study while in school or after graduation, AP News reports.
International students are usually allowed to work for a year after graduation through Optional Practical Training, or OPT. But students graduating in several scientific, technology, engineering and maths, or STEM, subjects can get a two-year extension.
The charge would be $70,000 for each student’s initial OPT application and $30,000 for each renewal.
The move may impact Nigerian students and other international students who rely on OPT to get job experience in the US after completing their studies. Shop African Art
Tuition paid by foreign students, especially Nigerians and others, is very important to American universities.
Other enterprises and technology companies also recruit international graduates for specialist and technical positions.
“OPT gives international students the chance to get practical experience while helping employers fill labour shortages, especially in STEM fields,” said Fanta Aw, CEO of NAFSA, an association promoting international education.
“Driving away the talents, perspectives and aspirations of international students will only hurt American innovation, economic growth, workforce development and global leadership,” Aw said in a written statement.
The DHS, however, said the proposed fee is aimed at tackling what it views as fraud and abuse inside the program.
The department called OPT a “pipeline for cheap foreign labour”
The public will have 60 days to comment on the proposal before DHS can determine whether or not to finalise and adopt the rule.
There could also be legal challenges from higher education institutions and industry groups, which could hold up the plan.
The proposed charge for OPT is part of a broader attempt by the Trump administration to tighten immigration regulations and boost monitoring of international students in the United States.
Last year, the administration rescinded the legal status of thousands of overseas students, some of whom were jailed or deported.
This summer, the administration finished a regulation that would’ve limited international students to four years in the US unless they had federal approval to stay beyond.
Higher education organisations condemned the idea, saying it would impose extra costs for universities and some degree programs are longer than four years.
In September, a federal court halted the rule from going into effect.
Doug Rand, a senior adviser at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Biden administration, said he expects the proposed price for OPT to be challenged in court.
He likened it to a $100,000 surcharge on H-1B work visas, which are popular among IT companies and colleges to attract qualified personnel.
High fees were not the answer, Rand contended.
“Where we have international students that come and get educated at our universities and want to work and use their talents here after they graduate, of course we should embrace them — not use an exorbitant fee as a pretext to send them packing,” Rand said in an email.
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