With attention focused on workplace raids and National Guard troops in Los Angeles, it is easy to overlook the Trump administration's policies on legal immigration. Those policies came into focus at a Senate hearing last month when Joseph Edlow, nominated to be the director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), pledged to shut off America's talent pipeline.
Edlow told the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 21, 2025, that he would end Optional Practical Training (OPT), which allows international students to work for 12 months in their course of study, typically after graduating. He said he would also eliminate STEM OPT, which enables students to gain practical experience by working an extra 24 months (beyond OPT) in a science, technology, engineering, or math field. The additional 24 months in STEM OPT gives employers a better chance to obtain an H-1B petition for students by entering the H-1B lottery in multiple years, a primary reason the Bush administration added STEM OPT in 2008.
Edlow said he wanted to "remove the ability for employment authorizations for F-1 students beyond the time that they are in school." That phrasing may be sleight of hand. A program already exists for working while in school, called Curricular Practical Training, but it's not as widely used as OPT and STEM OPT.
