ImmigrationU.S. will allow more foreign graduates to work in U.S. longer
The Optional Practical Training program allows foreign students graduating from American colleges to stay in the United States after graduating for twelve months to work in their field of study; the George W. Bush administration introduced a measure allowing some science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduates to stay for additional seventeen months — for a total of twenty-nine months of practical training; the Obama administration has now expanded the STEM list to include many additional degree programs, among them soil microbiology, video graphics and special effects, dairy science, neuroscience, mathematics and computer science, business statistics, personality psychology, medical informatics, and pharmaceutics and drug design
The Obama administration announced it was expanding the pool of foreign student graduating from U.S. colleges and universities who would be eligible for a 17-month visa extension to work in the field of their studies. The administration, saying it was a step toward “fixing our broken immigration system,” explained that the measure would allow the United States to benefit from the graduates’ skills and training, and would allow some of them to secure long-term work permit in the United States.
Not everyone welcomed the measure. David North, a fellow at the immigration-skeptical non-profit Center for Immigration Studies, told Fox News that the new policy would make it more difficult for American graduates to find jobs. He said foreign students might gain an edge over U.S. students because they – the foreign students — will not have to pay Social Security or Medicare taxes, and neither will their employers. North estimated that because of the tax factor, companies would get a 7.65 percent discount by hiring a foreign student under this program, something he said creates an “unequal playing field” for other college graduates. The students and employers would only have to pay those taxes if and when they secured a regular work visa.
“I’m not sure how many employers know this, but boy when it gets around, it’ll make some people very attractive,” North told FoxNews.com. “It gives the employer a bonus for hiring the foreign worker.”
The policy in question is the Optional Practical Training program. Foreign students graduating from American colleges can stay in the United States after graduating for twelve months to work in their field of study. The George W. Bush administration introduced a measure allowing some science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduates to stay for additional seventeen months – for a total of twenty-nine months of practical training.
The Obama administration changes to the Bush policy add many eligible degree programs, among them soil microbiology, video graphics and special effects, dairy science, neuroscience, mathematics and computer science, business statistics, personality psychology, medical informatics, and pharmaceutics and drug design .
In a speech on immigration last week in El Paso, Texas, President Obama said that “We provide students from around the world with visas to get engineering and computer science degrees at our top universities. But then our laws discourage them from using those skills to start a business or a new industry here in the United States,” Obama said. “In a global marketplace, we need all the talent we can attract. … We don’t want the next Intel or the next Google to be created in China or India. We want those companies and jobs to take root here. ”
Obama said that in “recent years,” one quarter of high-tech startups in the United States were founded by immigrants, creating 200,000 U.S. jobs. “I’m glad those jobs are here,” Obama said.
Fox News notes that foreign students account for a sizeable portion of those studying science, technology, engineering, and math at American schools. According to the National Science Foundation (NSF), more temporary visa holders enrolled in graduate engineering programs in 2008 than U.S. citizens and permanent residents. In 2009, 53 percent of physical science doctorate recipients were citizens or permanent residents, compared with 42 percent studying on temporary visas.
