But kept the H1B/OPT/visa holders.
Posts mentioning hashtag #opt
Below are all the posts — topics as well as replies — that mention the hashtag #opt.
Mention #opt in your post to continue the discussion!
New H1b changes
Something coming for H1b. Just under debate. H1b extensions will also be cut down drastically.
Reducing the annual H-1B cap from 65,000 to 25,000 and eliminating existing exemptions
Requiring employers to certify they cannot find a qualified American worker and have not conducted layoffs
Setting a minimum H-1B wage of $200,000 per year
Barring H-1B workers from holding multiple jobs and prohibiting third-party staffing agencies from employing them
Disallowing H-1B workers from bringing dependents to the United States
Prohibiting federal agencies from sponsoring or employing nonimmigrant workers
Ending Optional Practical Training (OPT)
Ensuring nonimmigrant visas remain temporary by prohibiting H-1B holders from adjusting status to permanent residency
Requiring nonimmigrants to depart the United States before changing to another nonimmigrant status
Link:
https://crane.house.gov/2026/04/22/rep-crane-introduces-legislation-to-pause-and-reform-the-broken-h-1b-visa-process/
OPT AND H1B TO BE ELIMINATED
Trump admin to make decision on OPT end of year.
Many senators already sent letter to DHS secretary to abolish the program effective immediately.
For context , about 500K OPT is used by companies yearly. This is even worse than H1B
Just fresh graduates taking over your job.
For the H1B, MTG already introduced a bill to abolish it. Unfortunately, Trump wants the H1B to satisfy his tech donors and oligarchs.
US OPT Tax in addition to 25% outsourcing penalty
Does anyone know more about this? Thanks!
US OPT tax push coincides with 25% outsourcing penalty on US companies
https://x.com/FinancialXpress/status/1969728070962540590
US lawmakers have proposed taxing international students’ earnings from the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. Foreign students in the US working for American firms under the OPT program are currently exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes.
This is in addition to the HIRE ACT.
The HIRE ACT still stuck in congress?
I didn't know that Senator Kiristen Gillibrand attempted something similar in 2020:
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/politics/2020/03/06/kirsten-gillibrand-visits-utica-to-talk-about--end-outsourcing-act--
NEXT MOVE? US OPT tax push coincides with 25% outsourcing penalty on US companies
US OPT tax push coincides with 25% outsourcing penalty on US companies
The Trump administration immigration policies in 2025 are set to make study visas tougher for international students and introduce new tax rules that impact the Optional Practical Training program.
US lawmakers have proposed taxing international students’ earnings from the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. Foreign students in the US working for American firms under the OPT program are currently exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes.
https://www.financialexpress.com/business/investing-abroad-us-immigration-reforms-put-opt-tax-burden-on-foreign-students-25-tax-on-us-companies-for-outsourcing-jobs-3984525/
Also:
Is the Hire Act stuck in congress?
Does anyone know more?
TIL: F1OPT visa workers NOR THEIR EMPLare NOR THEIR EMPLOYER pay Social Security or Medicare taxes. 15.3% discount off American labor!!!!!!!!!!
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/09/the_disappearing_american_worker.html
From the article:
One such privileged program is the F-1 OPT visa worker. F-1 visas are those granted to foreigners studying in the U.S. After graduating from university, these visas can be used for employment in the U.S. via OPT, optional practical training. They give a standard one year of eligibility, but they can be extended to three years for STEM graduates.
These foreign grads are preferred over U.S. grads due to a shocking tax bias, they are not subject to FICA taxes! Neither they, nor their employer, are charged Social Security or Medicare taxes during their F-1 OPT employment. This makes them hireable at a 15.3% discount over Americans.
So the corporation is given a tax benefit for reducing the American citizen employment base, the very base that keeps Social Security and Medicare solvent.
The results have been devastating for young Americans, while simultaneously underfunding the retirement fund for American seniors. The IRS details the bias on its website here.
New Visa Scam: O-1 and OPT
The new visa scam by those who have OPT (Optional Practical Training) when they don't get picked via the H1B lottery, is to apply for O-1 visa. So many are now applying for O-1 visa since they couldn't get in to USA workforce through H1B. The approval rate of getting an O-1 visa is 95%. Normally their are 20K applicants, and most are approved. I don't know what type of EXTRAORDINARY ABILITY (required for O-1) these foreign engineers and researchers have that US Citizen PhD or Masters graduates don't have. THE ENTIRE USA VISA SYSTEM HAS BECOME A SCAM FROM THOSE COMING FROM MAINLY INDIA AND CHINA, TAKING AWAY AMERICAN JOBS FROM AMERICANS.
@2ypx: Read @2nyb 's post again -- he said it exempts employers not employees from certain taxes (in the US, both employers and employees pay a portion of various payroll taxes). I don't know how much this applies to #H1B, but it certainly applies to #OPT, for which Obama's DHS is about to triple the visa duration, so Zuckerberg et al. can bypass the annual H-1B caps.