Washington, D.C. (November 13, 2023) – A Center for Immigration Studies analysis of a State Department-funded study released today reveals nearly a $1 billion tax break American employers receive for hiring recent alien graduates of U.S. colleges and universities, rather than American graduates of the same institutions. The Institute for International Education’s Open Doors study masked the benefit to American employers at the expense of American workers amid a reported 12.4 percent increase in the number of foreign students, which reportedly now number over one million.
David North, a Center fellow and author of the analysis, explains that the Open Doors report exaggerates the number of foreign students, including recent alumni enrolled in the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program in their count. The program, designed as a foreign worker initiative, provides tax breaks for employers who hire these recent graduates.
The OPT program, comprising one year of legal employment for all alien recent college graduates and an additional two years for STEM graduates, allows employers to forego approximately 9.5 percent of payroll taxes – supporting Social Security, Medicare, and federal employment insurance programs.
North states, “These employers who prefer alien workers to Americans are receiving a subsidy at the expense of America’s aging, disabled, sick, and unemployed.”
Open Doors data indicates that China and India are the primary sources of foreign students, constituting 27.5 percent and 25.4 percent of the foreign student population, respectively. |
