Sponsors (32)
The bill shifts control of post‑study work programs to Congress, providing legal clarity and legislative oversight but eliminating agency‑authorized OPT‑style pathways and thereby reducing opportunities for international students and a key hiring channel for U.S. employers.
Employers and federal administrators (including small-business owners and federal employees) get clearer legal boundaries because Congress must explicitly authorize OPT or any successor, reducing uncertainty from agency-created programs.
Taxpayers and the public gain stronger legislative oversight because Congress retains direct control over post‑study work programs, ensuring accountability for immigration‑related labor policy rather than leaving it to agencies.
International F-1 students lose access to OPT or successor work authorization, removing a common pathway to obtain U.S. work experience after graduation and harming early‑career prospects.
U.S. employers lose a major pipeline of skilled, recently trained graduates, likely increasing hiring costs and producing labor shortages in specialized fields that affect small businesses and middle‑class families.
Universities, colleges, and local economies could lose tuition revenue and cultural/academic exchange because the U.S. may become a less attractive destination for international students.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Bans employment authorization under the F-1 Optional Practical Training (OPT) program and any successor program unless Congress passes a new law that expressly authorizes such a program. The change amends the immigration statute to make OPT-style work authorization unavailable to F-1 students nationwide unless a future act of Congress creates it.
Introduced March 25, 2025 by Paul Gosar · Last progress March 25, 2025