Trump is threatening international students, and a new bill could help stop him

A bipartisan duo is opposing President Donald Trump’s attempts to end a program that allows hundreds of thousands of foreign students to work in the United States for a year after graduation. Representatives Sam Liccardo (D-CA) and Jay Obernault (R-CA) have introduced a bill that would codify Optional Practical Training (OPT), which allows international students to work in their field of study for 12 months, with extensions of up to 24 months for STEM students.

OPT was introduced in 1992 and serves as a kind of bridge between student visas, or F-1s, and H-1B, the category of visa issued to foreign citizens who work for U.S. companies. But the occupied Palestinian territories are now under threat from the Trump administration, which has floated the possibility of getting rid of them entirely as part of its broader crackdown on legal immigration. Liccardo and Obernault hope to bolster bipartisan support for the program, which until recently remained under the radar and faced little opposition from either party.

Between 2006 and 2022, 56% of international students who entered the country on F-1 visas enrolled in the occupied Palestinian territory, according to Data From the Institute of Progress. Students with graduate degrees are more likely to enroll in elective practical training than those with bachelor’s degrees, and students in STEM fields are more likely to use the program to find work in the United States than those in other fields. Department of Homeland Security statistics It shows that 165,524 foreign students participated in the STEM OPT program in 2024 alone. STEM doctorates have the highest participation rate in the occupied Palestinian territories, with 76 percent of graduates enrolling in the program.

“The OPT program enables hundreds of thousands of the best and brightest from around the world to receive an education in the United States and have a path to contribute to our economy,” said Liccardo, one of the bill’s sponsors. Edge. “The alternative to the occupied Palestinian territory is to educate these wonderful people and then send them back to their home countries, where they will create companies to compete against us.”

Congress No meaningful immigration reform has passed For decades, the occupied Palestinian territories have not been created by legislation at all. President George H. W. Bush established the program in 1992 under the authority of the Department of Justice, which oversaw the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the predecessor of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), until the Department of Homeland Security began operations in 2003. The Occupied Palestinian Territories (USCIS) program is now administered by USCIS, the DHS agency that handles legal immigration.

When new regulations on elective practical training were issued, they always expanded the program rather than reducing its scope: George W. Bush and Barack Obama both increased the period of elective practical training for students with STEM degrees, who can now work in the United States for up to 36 months.

“It never had a life in law, and that’s precisely why in this environment, where there’s a new idea every two hours about how this administration could isolate the United States from the world — whether that’s stifling talent, exports, or relationships with our allies — we want to take note of it to make sure this valuable program continues to help us drive the American economy,” Liccardo said.

Although the OPT has broad bipartisan support, the program has faced legal challenges for more than a decade. The Washington Coalition of Tech Workers sued the Department of Homeland Security in 2014 after the Obama administration extended the STEM OPT period to 17 months, arguing that the change harmed American workers. The lawsuit also alleged that the Department of Homeland Security exceeded its regulatory authority when creating the OPT. In an amicus brief filed in 2019, more than 100 colleges said ending the OPT would make it harder for them “to compete for international students, especially at a time when global competition is intensifying and international students are already wondering whether they are welcome in the United States in light of recent changes in immigration policy and enforcement.”

During his nomination hearing in May 2025, Joseph P. Idlow, Trump’s pick to head USCIS, wants to end the occupied Palestinian territories. Edlow, confirmed by the Senate, He said The occupied Palestinian territories have been “mishandled,” adding that he favored a “regulatory and quasi-regulatory program that would allow us to revoke” the employment licenses of international students after they leave school. Many groups that support restricting immigration, including the right-wing Center for Immigration Studies, have long sought an end to the occupied Palestinian territories, which they say leads to lower wages for American workers.

There was Some reports Last fall, the Trump administration could issue a rule to that effect as early as 2026, but no changes have been made to the occupied Palestinian territory yet. Still, well done Widespread ICE raids across the countryHowever, the Trump administration seeks to restrict many forms of legal immigration. He – she Raise fees for H-1B visas To $100,000 and Imposing a complete or partial travel ban For citizens of 20 countries. Although Trump previously said he would like to Giving green cards For every international student who graduates from an American university, his administration is more likely to move to limit or eliminate the occupied Palestinian territories altogether.

Liccardo, who co-sponsored the bill that would legalize the occupied Palestinian territories, said canceling the program would have ripple effects that hurt all Americans. “At a time when China in particular is outpacing the United States in many technologies and industries ranging from solar energy and energy storage to biotechnology, increasingly so now, we cannot afford to lose engineers, scientists and innovators who are trained and educated in the United States to fuel the economies of our competitors,” he said.