Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Missouri, has intensified his campaign against Optional Practical Training after a Times of India report inadvertently confirmed what America First advocates have warned about for years. The foreign publication’s defensive response to Schmitt’s criticism exposed how international students view American universities not as centers of learning but as employment gateways.
“The ‘Times of India’ is coming after me (again) for attacking OPT—our most abused immigration scheme,” Schmitt said. “OPT subsidizes foreign labor, undermines young Americans, creates Visa Mills. OPT was created by executive regulation. It can be ended by executive regulation.”
The senator’s concerns align with revelations in the Times of India piece itself. According to the Indian publication, foreign families view American degrees as “a sequence you pay for and plan around” with graduation merely being one step toward accessing the H-1B lottery through OPT’s “post-study runway.” The publication frames OPT not as an educational benefit but as essential infrastructure for recovering costs and building résumés in American workplaces.
This admission validates Schmitt’s charge that the program operates as an unregulated guest worker scheme rather than a legitimate educational extension. “That’s why I called on Secretary Noem and Director Edlow to overhaul or end this terribly broken program,” Schmitt stated. “The entire OPT system rigs the game against Americans. America First means AMERICANS first.”
The numbers tell a troubling story. Jessica Vaughan from the Center for Immigration Studies testified that over 540,000 work authorizations were granted under OPT in fiscal year 2023 alone, while the program has grown nearly 30% over five years. Meanwhile, American graduates face a job market where employers can hire foreign workers who enjoy payroll tax exemptions, creating artificial cost advantages that incentivize replacing domestic talent.
The Times of India’s own coverage undermines claims that F1 visa holders primarily seek education. The publication openly discusses how families plan around internships and employment timelines, treating American degrees as tickets to workplace access rather than academic achievement. Schmitt concluded, “The Times of India admits that students on F-1 visas are not primarily here for education, but jobs. That’s an admission they’re intentionally abusing the requirements of ‘student’ visas.”
For America First voters, OPT represents everything wrong with immigration policy written by bureaucrats rather than Congress. Created through executive regulation without legislative approval, the program has mushroomed into a system that prioritizes foreign workers over American graduates entering the workforce. “It’s time for action,” Schmitt declared. “OPT, as we know it, has to go.”
