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Time of India
5 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Over 69,000 Indian students face deportation risk as US tightens OPT unemployment rules
A wave of uncertainty has swept across the international student community in the US as thousands of students on the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program have started receiving warning letters from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The letters threaten termination of their SEVIS records and potential deportation due to alleged violations of employment reporting rules. This enforcement action significantly impacts Indian students, who form the second-largest group of international students in the US. According to the Open Doors Report for the 2022-23 academic year, there were 270,000 Indian students in the US, with nearly 69,000 of them participating in the OPT program. These students now face the risk of losing their legal status due to administrative lapses in reporting employment details. Stricter OPT enforcement leads to legal consequences At the heart of the issue is the strict enforcement of existing OPT unemployment rules. OPT regulations allow international students to remain unemployed for up to 90 days during their 12-month OPT period. Those on a STEM-OPT extension are granted an additional 60 days. Students are required to update their employment status on the SEVIS portal within 10 days of any change, including a new job, job loss, or change in work location. As reported by the TNN, immigration attorney Snehal Batra of NPZ Law Group said, 'The recent ICE letters indicate that a student's SEVIS record will be terminated if there is no employer information listed. This means the student either failed to report the OPT job on time or exceeded the allowed unemployment period.' Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Batra added that, in the past, SEVIS records were not typically terminated automatically for such violations, but under the current administration's strict approach, students can fall out of status more easily. Letters mirror past policy under Trump-Pence administration The wording in the current ICE letters reportedly mirrors those issued in 2020 during the Trump-Pence administration. As per the TNN, experts note a visible uptick in the number of such letters now being sent, indicating renewed focus on enforcement under the Trump presidency. A sample letter viewed by the TNN states, 'Because there is no employer information in your SEVIS record, you are accumulating unemployment days and may have exceeded the permissible period of unemployment. ' The letter further warns students to correct their SEVIS records within 15 days or face immigration proceedings. Schools and DSOs under pressure Traditionally, compliance with SEVIS reporting was managed by the Designated School Officials (DSOs). However, as per immigration lawyer Jath Shao, quoted by the TNN, 'ICE has been going in and terminating people who have accumulated more than 90 days of unemployment.' He added that in some instances, the failure to update SEVIS was due to delays by DSOs, though US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has reinstated student status once records were corrected. Advisories issued and guidance to students The NAFSA: Association of International Educators has issued a special advisory, urging DSOs to monitor 'Accrued unemployment days' alerts and to actively follow up with students nearing their unemployment limits. It also reminds students to promptly update employment details via the SEVIS portal or through their school DSO. Poovi Chothani, managing partner at LawQuest, advised, as reported by the TNN, that students nearing their limit should consider legal alternatives such as leaving the US, enrolling in a new program, or applying for a different visa status like B-2. Batra also recommended, 'Students should maintain written records of all employment, including employer name, job title, dates of work, hours, and supervisor details,' which could support future visa or status change applications, as noted by the TNN.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Time of India
OPT students face heightened scrutiny by ICE, any lapse in employment data can result in deportation
(AI generated image) International students across the US are facing another unprecedented wave of enforcement, many students who are undergoing post-graduation Optional Practical Training (OPT) are receiving letters from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) threatening termination of their SEVIS records and potential deportation. The core of the issue lies in the reporting of employment status within the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). OPT regulations grant students a maximum of 90 days of unemployment during their twelve-month program. Another 60 days is available to those undertaking the STEM-OPT program for an additional two years. 'The recent ICE letters indicate that an international student's SEVIS record will be terminated if there is no employer information listed on the SEVIS portal. This signifies that the student did not report the OPT job on time or went over the allowed unemployment period, either of which can result in a termination of OPT status and initiation of removal proceedings,' said Snehal Batra, managing attorney at NPZ Law Group. 'This is a pretty big change for F-1 students. In the past, SEVIS did not usually terminate SEVIS records automatically for exceeding 90 days of unemployment. But now, with tighter rules, students could accidentally fall out of status for failure to report,' she added. Immigration attorneys point out that OPT reporting rules require SEVIS to be updated within ten days of any change - be it a new job, new work site location, or loss of employment. A copy of such a letter seen by TOI states, 'Because there is no employer information in your SEVIS record, you are accumulating unemployment days and may have exceeded the permissible period of unemployment. If you have been employed during your OPT time, you must correct your SEVIS record. Please contact your Designated School Official (DSO) or utilize the SEVIS Portal to update your information. Failure to take corrective action may result in the initiation of immigration proceedings to remove you from the United States. " Via this letter, international students are given a strict 15-day deadline from the date of the notice to update their SEVIS records. Failure to do so will result in the termination of their SEVIS record, with its attached consequences such as deportation. The Indian student community in the US is significant in terms of numbers. According to the Open Doors Report (academic year 2022-23), there were 2.70 lakh Indian students in the US, with 69,000 Indian students participating in OPT programs. Thus, several Indian students have at the receiving end of such letters. According to 'NAFSA: Association of International Educators', the wordings of the letter are identical to those issued in 2020 under the Trump-Pence administration. However, according to education and immigration experts, this time there appears to be an uptick in the number of letters that are being issued. 'Traditionally, it's been the school's DSO that tracks SEVIS compliance, but since ICE administers the SEVP, they have been going in and terminating people who have accumulated more than 90 days of unemployment during their OPT,' said Jath Shao, founder of an immigration law firm. 'It is crucial to have employment, paid or unpaid, that is related to the major you graduated from. You must also promptly report your employment or unemployment to your school's DSO. We have seen some cases where DSOs failed to timely update graduates' employment status in SEVIS, but USCIS has reinstated the students' status upon correction of the record,' pointed out Shao. The gravity of the situation has prompted NAFSA: Association of International Educators, to issue a special advisory. It recommends that DSOs should diligently monitor the 'Accrued unemployment days' alerts. This alert identifies students with unemployment days, indicating whether they are employed as of the list's generation date. DSOs have also been urged to proactively follow up with students accumulating high levels of unemployment days and to remind them to update their employment information through the SEVIS Portal or their DSO. Guidance to students: 'If you are nearing the end of the permitted number of unemployment days you have some choices including: leaving US before the end of the permitted number of unemployment days; enrolling in another qualifying education program and continuing in F-1 status, filing an application to change status to another visa category – say B-2 (tourist visa),' said Poovi Chothani, managing partner at LawQuest a Mumbai headquartered immigration firm. Batra added, 'In addition, international students should keep a written record of all OPT employment for their own record, including name of employer, dates of employment, name of supervisor, number of hours worked per week, job title and description. This information will also be helpful to prove maintenance of status when applying for a change of status from F-1 to say an H-1B.'
Axios
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Barrasso to honor "sherpas" who helped Trump's Cabinet get confirmed
A political organization associated with Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso is hosting a reception Monday night to celebrate the "sherpas" who helped Trump's Cabinet get confirmed by the Senate. Why it matters: Trump's Cabinet was confirmed in record time and senators want to honor the aides and advisers who helped make it happen. In addition to Barrasso (R-Wyo.), top Trump officials are expected to attend, according to people familiar with the matter. Driving the news: The event is being hosted by the Senate Opportunity Fund, a 501(c)4 organization that Barrasso aides set up during the first Trump administration to help the Republican Conference hone its messaging. The effort is being led by Arjun Mody, a longtime Barrasso adviser, who was also involved in the confirmation of Pete Hegseth at the Defense Department, Kash Patel at the FBI and Frank Bisignano at the Social Security Administration. Zoom out: Both parties use sherpas — typically former Senate staffers or actual senators — to help nominees navigate the confirmation process. (The term is also to refer to a country's top representative at G-20 summits.) President Trump's transition team started to put together a strategy in July on how to get their nominees confirmed by the Senate. Nominees were assigned confirming teams when they were named. Zoom in: There's a debate among Trump advisers and old Senate hands on which sherpas has the hardest job in navigating the confirmation minefield and finding 50 votes. Atop the list are Eric Ueland (himself nominated to be the deputy at Office and Management and Budget), who helped Hegseth win a 51-50 confirmation vote, with Vice President Vance dramatically breaking the tie. Arthur Schwartz, an adviser to Donald Trump Jr., also helped with Hegseth, as well as Elbridge Colby. Schwartz also counseled Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll on his confirmation. Ken Nahigian, who led the Trump-Pence transition eight years ago, was instrumental in getting Robert F. Kennedy Jr. confirmed as Health and Human Services Secretary.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's first vice president urges his old boss against raising taxes on wealthy Americans
Former Vice President Mike Pence has a message for his old boss. Pence is urging President Donald Trump, under whom he served as vice president in Trump's first administration, not to raise the tax rate on wealthy Americans. Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the signature domestic achievement of his first White House term, is scheduled to expire this year if it's not extended by Congress. The Trump White House and some congressional Republicans for weeks have mulled letting the tax reductions on the wealthy sunset as a way to pay for the rest of the tax cuts as well as Trump's other pricey second-term priorities. What President Trump Is Asking Speaker Johnson To Do And the president, during a Wednesday phone call, pushed House Speaker Mike Johnson to raise taxes on the highest income earners and close the carried interest loophole in the reconciliation process, Fox News Digital confirmed. The development was first reported Thursday by Punchbowl News. Read On The Fox News App A source familiar with Trump's thinking said Trump is considering allowing the rate on individuals making $2.5 million or more to increase by 2.6%, from 37% to 39.6%. But Pence, a fiscal conservative and budget hawk during his long political career in the House of Representatives, as Indiana governor and as vice president, strongly cautioned against upping the rates on the highest earners. "Any suggestion that I've heard among some in and around the administration that we raise the top margin rate, the so-called millionaires tax, would be an enormous tax increase on small business owners across America," Pence said. "It needs to be opposed." What Mike Pence Told Fox News In An Exclusive Interview This Week And the former vice president, in an interview with Fox News Digital this week, argued that "the majority of people that file taxes of a million dollars are simply individuals that own businesses, and they file their taxes as an individual, but then plow that money back into their company. If you raise that top margin, it would be an enormous tax increase on small business America." "Let's make all the Trump-Pence tax cuts permanent. That's a way to really lay a foundation to grow the economy in the days ahead," Pence urged. Why Trump's First Vice President Was Honored By The Kennedy Family Pence, who was interviewed in Boston after receiving the John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage award, gave "President Trump all the credit in the world for an historic victory last November, and for sparing the country one more liberal Democrat administration." He also praised Trump "not only for his victory, but for securing our southern border, for restoring morale and recruitment in our military, for taking the fight to the Houthis." But he argued that "I truly do believe that some of the other steps the president is taking away from that conservative agenda should be a concern that would work against his legacy and ultimately the success of our party or our country. And so we're going to continue to be a voice against them. "I really do believe that for prosperity … for the success of our country, we need to stick to those time-honored principles of strong defense, American leadership on the world stage, less government, less taxes, traditional moral values and the right to life, and I'm going to be a voice for that," Pence article source: Trump's first vice president urges his old boss against raising taxes on wealthy Americans
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pence group ramps up criticism of Trump tariffs with ad campaign
A conservative advocacy group founded by former Vice President Pence launched a six-figure ad campaign on Tuesday pushing back against the Trump administration's sweeping tariffs that are set to take effect this week. Advancing American Freedom unveiled its first ad, which warns of potential consequences the tariffs could have for farmers. The ad features a testimonial from Dennis Campbell, a sixth-generation farmer in Iowa who says he is 'very concerned' about the impacts of tariffs. 'Family farms like mine will be negatively affected. We need fair trade, not tariffs that lead to higher prices or foreclosures on family farms,' Campbell says in the ad, which was shared with The Hill. Semafor first reported on the organization's ad campaign. 'Tariffs harm American workers, farmers, and families and we are urging a swift end to this protectionist policy that could undermine President Trump's pro-growth agenda,' Advancing American Freedom president Tim Chapman said in a statement. 'It's more critical than ever for Congress and the Administration to make progress on renewing the historic Trump-Pence tax cuts and get back to the conservative formula of tax cuts and deregulation that worked so well during President Trump's first term,' Chapman added. The Trump administration last week announced a 10 percent baseline tariff on all other nations, with higher 'reciprocal' tariffs on dozens of other countries like China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, India and the European Union. Those tariffs are set to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. President Trump has shown no interest in backing off the tariffs, even as he and other officials are adamant that more than 70 countries have reached out seeking a deal. The approach has rattled financial markets and drawn pushback from some Senate Republicans. Pence, who has broken with Trump on multiple policy issues in recent years since leaving office, said in a statement last week that the tariffs would amount to the 'largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
