Free Republic

The number of international students arriving in the U.S. in August fell by 19 percent this year compared with last year — the largest decline on record outside of the pandemic. The decline is occurring as the Trump administration has delayed visa processing, instituted travel bans or restrictions for 19 countries, threatened to deport international students for pro-Palestinian speech, and heightened the vetting of student visa applicants. -snip- The United States hosts the most international students of any country: about 1.3 million doctorate, master’s, bachelor’s and associate students, according to recent government data. Over 70 percent are from Asia, and...

A heartfelt post by an Indian professional on Reddit has sparked a wave of emotional discussion among expats navigating the uncertainty of life after their US student visas expire. The user, who identified himself as a 32-year-old currently on a STEM OPT visa, opened up about feeling “lost” and conflicted as his time in the US nears an end. In his post, the user shared that he came to the US in 2021 on an F1 visa and had planned to continue working through a Day 1 CPT program after his Optional Practical Training (OPT) period. However, after his project...

US senators Charles Grassley and Richard Durbin have raised concerns about major corporations, including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Cognizant, for filing thousands of H-1B skilled worker visa petitions even as they conducted large-scale layoffs of American employees. Other companies questioned include Amazon, Apple, Deloitte, Google, JPMorgan Chase, Meta, Microsoft, and Walmart. The inquiry comes amid high unemployment in the US tech sector, which exceeds the overall national jobless rate. Recent American graduates with STEM degrees are reportedly struggling to find jobs, prompting the senators to question why companies are replacing US workers with foreign visa holders, as per PTI...