February 4, 2023
By Alyssa Aquino
The full D.C. Circuit refused to revisit an Obama-era program allowing foreign STEM graduates to work in the U.S. on student visas, sparking a judge’s Wednesday critique that the court was rubber-stamping the White House’s “rewrite” to federal immigration law.
U.S. Circuit Judge Neomi Rao criticized her colleagues for letting stand a split, 2-1 decision blessing former President Barack Obama’s expansion of the F-1 student visa’s Optional Practical Training program, a move that allows foreign science, technology, engineering and mathematics students to work in the U.S. for up to three years after graduation. By allowing F-1 students to work well after their studies are done, the D.C. Circuit had given the U.S. Department of Homeland Security “virtually unchecked authority” to extend a foreigner’s stay, regardless of their visa types, Judge Rao said.
Read the full story at Law360.
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