USA: Indian Students Under Scanner in OPT Crackdown

In a major crackdown, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) uncovered irregularities involving nearly 10,000 foreign students, including many Indians, who were part of the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. ICE director Todd M Lyons called the OPT program a ‘magnet for fraud’.

The foreign students registered under the OPT were found to be working for highly suspect employers or shell companies, which had empty or no offices and even locked doors. In a few cases, multiple employers shared the same address at locations where hundreds of foreign students claimed to be working.

The OPT program was created during Bush regime and expanded during the Obama administration. The program allows international students, entering the US on a student visa (F-1 visa), to work temporarily in the US for 12 or 24 months, in jobs related to their field of study. It also allows students to shift to an H-1B visa sponsored by employers.

When the program was launched, the DHS anticipated only a few thousand foreign students would get trained under it and then return home. Instead, the OPT program was abused and it attracted hundreds of thousands of foreign students who claimed employment at work sites that did not exist, blatantly fabricating information provided to DHS. Under the Biden administration, the fraud escalated even further, the ICE director said.

The companies in which the foreign students claimed to be working are also found to be involved in financial frauds, including breaches of contract, suspicious movement of cash across countries.

Addressing media, Lyons said that they had encountered cases involving espionage, biological threats, intellectual property theft, visa and employment fraud, and even scams targeting elderly Americans, all perpetuated by individuals abusing their status as students.

Last week, the HSI visited 18 apparent OPT worksites in Texas and the officials found coordinated employer clusters where numerous OPT workers were on nearly identical websites, sharing job postings.

During the visit, one of the employers claimed they have only three OPT students but records showed over 500 foreign students working in the place. Reportedly, the officials in the company could not answer basic questions posed by the investigators and referred to HR people operating from India.