For Indian students across American campuses in 2025, the Optional Practical Training (OPT) programme transformed from a career launchpad into a constant source of anxiety. What was once a straightforward path to gain work experience after graduation became a political and regulatory minefield, where the future of hundreds of thousands hung in the balance.
The Scale of the OPT Programme and the Onslaught of Scrutiny
The stakes were incredibly high. According to the American Council on Education, roughly 21.5% of all international students in the US, or one in five, were participating in OPT in 2025. Data from ICEF Monitor in May 2025 revealed that more than 240,000 foreign graduates were working through this programme, making it the largest single pipeline for high-skilled, university-educated immigrants into the American workforce.
However, 2025 became the year of a massive government crackdown. US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced plans to revoke or refuse to renew 1,100 OPT work permits as part of anti-fraud efforts, as reported by the Herman Legal Group. The enforcement escalated with Operation OPTical Illusion, launched by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in January 2025. This operation led to the arrest of 15 students who had claimed employment with non-existent companies.
Authorities employed advanced tools like artificial intelligence and data-matching systems to identify suspicious employment patterns. ICE intensified work site visits to verify that companies were providing legitimate training related to the students' fields of study. This scrutiny exposed shell companies that lacked proper websites, had disconnected phone numbers, or used residential addresses as business locations.
Political Assaults and the Economic Argument Ignored
The regulatory pressure was matched by direct political threats to the programme's existence. During his confirmation hearing on May 21, 2025, Joseph Edlow, nominated to lead USCIS, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that OPT had been misapplied and he intended to end post-graduation OPT. Legislative attacks followed, including Senator Tom Cotton's OPT Fair Tax Act in October 2025, which sought to eliminate tax exemptions for OPT participants, effectively increasing their costs by about 8%.
Multiple Republican senators pushed to abolish OPT entirely, framing it as a programme that took jobs from Americans. This rhetoric persisted despite research from the Peterson Institute for International Economics, which found that restricting high-skilled immigration actually reduces opportunities for American workers across education levels.
The political debate largely ignored the substantial economic contributions of international students. As per Shorelight, they contributed over $42.9 billion to the US economy in the 2024-2025 academic year and supported more than 355,000 American jobs. Research consistently showed that foreign graduates from US universities drive innovation and patenting, with about one-third of OPT recipients later transitioning to H-1B skilled work visas.
Fallout for Students and a Fragile Future
The combined pressure of fraud enforcement and political uncertainty forced international students, including a significant number from India, to reconsider their American dreams. Shorelight's research indicated that most students now view OPT as a non-negotiable factor when choosing a study destination. Without guarantees of practical training, many stated they would simply select another country.
Universities scrambled to guide students through the new, stricter landscape. The Berkeley International Office warned of increased ICE scrutiny, resulting in enforcement actions against students with fraudulent employment. They advised students to work at least 20 hours per week in clearly full-time positions to avoid extra attention, noting that jobs under 20 hours counted toward the strict 90-day unemployment limit.
While the OPT programme survived 2025, its path became far more perilous. USCIS began denying applications with vague job descriptions or duties unrelated to a student's major. The Department of Homeland Security established a Fraud Hub to train school officials on spotting and reporting fraud, with schools risking their certification for non-compliance.
By December 2025, the message was clear: OPT had not vanished, but the journey from an international student to an American worker had become narrower, riskier, and shrouded in far greater uncertainty than just a year before. For Indian students aspiring to build a career in the US, the promise of OPT now required navigating a complex web of compliance, verification, and political volatility.
