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A growing push in the United States to restrict post-study work rights and increase taxes on international graduates is creating serious concern among Indian students. At the heart of the issue is Optional Practical Training (OPT), a popular programme that allows international students to work in the US after finishing their degrees. For many, OPT is a critical stepping stone to securing an H-1B work visa and building a long-term career in the country. What is OPT — and why does it matter? OPT lets students on F-1 visas work in the US for up to 12 months after graduation,...

BUTLER COUNTY, IOWA – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem calling on the department to stop issuing work authorizations to student visa holders in direct violation of the law. Grassley also emphasized how foreign student work authorizations put America at risk of technological and corporate espionage, citing more than 33,000 current Chinese student visa holders with STEM work authorizations. “Competition from foreign graduates is contributing to rising unemployment rates among college-educated Americans. This should not be the case. Congress placed caps on employment visas for foreign graduates to ensure that...

Republican voices in Washington have turned their attention to international students after raising the cost of H-1B visas. On Wednesday, Senator Chuck Grassley urged the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to stop granting work authorisations to student visa holders. In a post on X, Grassley wrote, “DHS needs to stop issuing work authorisations to student visa holders who compete against Americans. It’s in direct violation of law and puts USA at risk of tech and corporate espionage. I have sent a letter to DHS Secretary Noem asking her to end work authorisations for foreign student visa holders.” If acted...

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) will introduce a bill on Tuesday that would sharply reduce the number of H-1B migrants working in U.S. white-collar jobs. The bill, to be announced Tuesday morning, would begin to count visa renewals as new visas, so ending the current practice of allowing unlimited renewals for most of the 85,000 visas granted to companies each year. The unlimited renewals policy allows roughly 750,000 H-1B visa holders to retain white-collar, career-track jobs that would otherwise have gone to young U.S. graduates. Without the exemption, the number of company-employed H-1B visa holders would drop to roughly 250,000. The...

US President Donald Trump's "reckless" proclamation imposing a USD 100,000 fee on H-1B visas is not about protecting American jobs but about "weaponising" immigration policy to advance a "xenophobic agenda", a leading community organisation said. On Friday, the Trump administration announced a one-time USD 1,00,000 fee on H-1B visas. Indian American Impact strongly condemned Trump's reckless order imposing the USD 100,000 fee on H-1B visas and said its "chaotic" rollout sparked panic and chaos, especially for professionals abroad working or visiting family with medical emergencies. The proclamation "is not about protecting American jobs; it is about weaponising immigration policy to...

Trump administration’s MAGA push is gaining traction before the next year’s mid-term elections in America. Two key developments regarding the H-1B visa system are already in place, making it difficult for US firms to hire foreign workers. The introduction of a $100,000 H-1B petition fee for each foreign worker will make it more expensive for US companies, while the second proposal is to launch a wage-based selection process. US companies are being forced to either hire the best-skilled foreign talent by offering a higher salary and the $100k petition fee or hire American workers. After H-1B, the next focus for...

Kaushik Raj, a 27-year-old journalist from Delhi, was all ready to live his American dream with a $100,000 (approximately Rs 89 lakh) scholarship in hand to pursue a master's degree in data journalism at Columbia University. But all his plans came crashing down when the United States' immigration department denied his student visa. Raj, who completed all the visa formalities, including the interview, believes the rejection was linked to his social media activity. Under the Donald Trump administration, social media vetting has become an integral part of the visa selection process. Speaking to The Washington Post, Raj claimed he wasn't...

Tighter US immigration rules are making Indian families think twice before arranging marriages with relatives living in the United States, matchmakers and experts say. Sidhi Sharma, a 19-year-old medical student from Haryana, had hoped to marry an Indian citizen with a high-paying US job but abandoned the idea after recent headlines about President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

There’s been lots of discussion about which tech companies will be the biggest losers from President Donald Trump’s broad assault on H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers, including a $100,000 fee for each new visa recipient. But the impact could be felt first by universities, says Jeremy Neufeld, the director of immigration policy at the Institute for Progress, a nonpartisan Washington think tank. That's because the fee won’t apply to companies until next March, when the annual lottery for the roughly 85,000 new commercial H-1B visas awarded each year, takes place. Meanwhile, universities and certain other research and not-for-profit...

For thousands of Indians who move to the United States in pursuit of education, career growth, and stability, the American dream often represents more than just financial success — it stands for freedom, opportunity, and personal achievement. But as immigration rules tighten and job markets fluctuate, many find that this dream can unravel overnight. The story of one 32-year-old Indian worker, who spent four years building a life in the US only to face sudden job loss and visa uncertainty, reveals how fragile this dream can be. The worker, who moved to the US in 2021 on an F1 student...

The US Chamber of Commerce is reportedly considering to file a lawsuit against the Trump administration after announcing a $100,000 annual fee on H-1B visa. The move has sparked concerns among Indian and other foreign nationals working in the US economy that relies heavily on H-1B visa. According to a Bloomberg report, officials with the country’s largest business lobby polled member companies to test support for a lawsuit. The report cites people familiar with the conversations who, on the condition of anonymity, said that the group sought feedback from corporations on potential litigation during a series of phone calls and...

The 'American Dream' is often described as the belief that anyone can succeed in the United States through perseverance and hard work. For Ananya Joshi, an Indian woman, that promise fell short. She bid a teary-eyed farewell to the country after failing to secure stable employment. In a conversation with NDTV, Joshi explained that she was on an F-1 visa when she was laid off. She had joined a company during her Optional Practical Training (OPT) period, but they later informed her that they would not sponsor her visa. "At that time I did not panic because I knew I...

For decades, the “American Dream” has inspired people from around the globe. But the reality of chasing it often turns out to be far more complicated. That struggle recently came into sharp focus after an emotional farewell video by an Indian woman went viral, resonating deeply with international students and professionals who face similar challenges. Ananya Joshi, who completed her master’s in Biotechnology from Northwestern University in 2024, started her career in the US on an F-1 OPT visa at a biotech start-up. But when the company downsized, she lost her job. With her visa period running out and the...

US President Donald Trump’s decision to cap international undergraduate students to 15 per cent of a college, with no more than 5 per cent from any single country, has evoked sharp criticism from Telugu students, who form a considerable chuck from India seeking admission in American colleges. Vishvanath Reddy, a student from Hyderabad who is pursuing his masters’ in the US, said “This is deeply unfair to international students. Immigrant students, especially from India, are the lifeblood of universities in the US. Trump cannot just put a five per cent cap on students belonging to a particular nationality. This will...

A Florida city councilman is facing growing bipartisan calls for his removal after posting inflammatory comments about Indian Americans on social media and then doubling down on his remarks, triggering outrage from fellow Republicans, state legislators, and community members. Palm Bay City Councilman Chandler Langevin wrote on X.com about people who are from India, accusing those living in the country of exploiting the United States, according to Click Orlando. His posts, which called for the deportation of all Indians and a halt to migration from India, have been widely condemned as racist. Langevin stated last week on X: “There’s not...

The Trump administration has stepped up unannounced inspections targeting foreign students in the United States under the Optional Practical Training (OPT) programme, with a sharp focus on those in the two-year STEM OPT extension. Officials have even been visiting student residences and university housing facilities for verification, according to immigration attorneys, as reported by Lubna Kably in The Times of India. The Open Doors report for 2023-24 shows that 3.3 lakh Indian students were in the US, with nearly 97,556 enrolled in the OPT programme, many in STEM-OPT. This makes them one of the largest groups affected by the checks....

Amid historic immigration crackdown and stricter border enforcement under the Trump administration, a stunning new trend is emerging: nearly 100 percent of all new jobs in America are going to foreign-born workers, while native-born Americans are being left behind. According to new data, President Donald Trump has reversed the trend established by the Biden administration, which favored hiring foreign-born candidates. The report, from the Washington Stand, found that President Trump's mass deportation program, removing illegal immigrants, especially illegal alien criminals, from the United States, is having a positive effect on the job market. The U.S. Department of Labor announced this...

Hundreds of students and recent graduates have seen their visas revoked by immigration officials since United States President Donald Trump took office for a second time on January 20, 2025, with several also arrested. Many of the targets of the visa revocations and arrests are students who participated in pro-Palestine protests which erupted on campuses across the country in 2024 amid Israel’s brutal war on Gaza. Others are individuals with more indirect links to Palestine – or those who have shown support for Gaza on social media. The Trump administration alleges that these students spread anti-Semitism and pro-Hamas sentiment on...

Two Microsoft employees were fired for protests condemning the company’s support for Israel at a 50th anniversary event last week. Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman was interrupted by shouts from software engineer Ibtihal Aboussad during his speech at the Friday celebration while Vaniya Agrawal, another engineer, interjected during a question-and-answer session with Microsoft founder Bill Gates, CEO Satya Nadella and former CEO Steve Ballmer. Earlier this year, the Associated Press reported that the company’s commercial artificial intelligence (AI) is being used by the Israel Defense Force in Gaza. “How dare you celebrate when Microsoft is killing children,” Aboussad yelled as...

Jobs shipped overseas while U.S. workers are told to 'learn to code' For years, American workers have been told they just need to "learn to code," "work harder," or "accept the realities of globalization." Meanwhile, their jobs have been quietly shipped overseas or handed to an army of imported workers on visas about which most Americans have never even heard.