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Shruthi Aramandla, a 24-year-old New York University engineering student from India graduating in May, is very happy these days, not just because of her imminent graduation, but also because she may have more time to find jobs in her field in the U.S. thanks to a federal government decision announced last week.
The Obama administration has decided to allow certain international students earning degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to stay in the U.S. for up to three years after graduation instead of the earlier 29 month statutory period to search for jobs.
“If my work visa gets denied this year, I still have two more opportunities to apply, and I can keep working within the country,” Aramandla told The New York Times, speaking about the advantage of the new role that is expected to go into effect May 10.
Under the previous rule, the Madras native would have been able to stay only through October 2017.
“Our universities train some of the world’s most talented international students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), but our broken immigration system compels many of them to take their skills back to their home countries.
“We should welcome students from across the globe not only to study here, but also to contribute to the country’s research and development through training opportunities,” the White House said in a press statement March nine.
To strengthen educational experiences of today’s international students studying in STEM fields at U.S. universities, the Department of Homeland Security has issued a final rule to expand and extend the use of the existing Optional Practical Training (OPT) program for STEM graduates. DHS estimates that about 34,000 individuals are participating in this program at present, and that the total number of affected students will expand in the coming years.
To better protect international students and U.S. workers, the rule includes safeguards to prevent student exploitation and protect the job security of U.S. workers.
However, indications are that the new rule may draw flak from unemployed tech workers as they fear that foreign workers could bring down wages of U.S. citizens because tech companies may rely on OPT workers and may pay lesser wage to American workers. There has also been criticism in the past that many tech companies hire employees through H-1B program from countries like India, paying them less than the industry standard wages.
But the revised rule has already drawn the ire of unemployed technology workers who are concerned that foreign workers could potentially drive down the wages of U.S. citizens. Others have raised concerns that technology companies may be relying on OPT workers in a way that allows them to deny basic worker protections, like not paying staff minimum wage. Technology companies have also been criticized for abusing the H-1B program by hiring a disproportionate amount of employees from places like India.
The OPT program recently made its way into the presidential debate. Sen. According to ThinkProgress.Org, Jeff Sessions (R-AL) showed up at a Donald Trump rally in Alabama with two former Disney World workers who claimed that they were laid off and replaced by workers on H-1B visas.
It said that GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, who had opposed increasing the number of H-1B workers, recently said that his stance on H-1B workers is changing. “We need highly skilled people in this country,” Trump said at a recent debate, ThinkProgres.Org noted.
“One of the biggest problems we have is people go to the best colleges — they’ll go to Harvard, they’ll go to Stanford, they’ll go to Wharton, as soon as they’re finished they get shoved out. They want to stay in this country… We absolutely have to be able to keep the brain power in this country.”
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