alt title: GOP Rep. Urges Markwayne Mullin To End F-1 Student Training Programs, “This Is Unacceptable”
alt title: GOP Rep. Urges Markwayne Mullin To End “Unacceptable” Student Training Programs
U.S. Representative Riley Moore (R-WV) on Monday sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, urging him to terminate the three types of practical training for F-1 students: Curricular Practical Training (CPT), Optional Practical Training (OPT), and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Optional Practical Training (STEM-OPT).
[NOTE: According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Policy Manual: “a F-1 Visa (Academic Student) allows one to enter the United States as a full-time student at an SEVP-certified college, university, seminary, conservatory, academic high school, elementary school, or other academic institution or in a language training program.”]
Today, I sent a letter to @SecMullinDHS urging him to terminate OPT, STEM-OPT, and CPT. The story of these programs is simple: Big Tech chose to lobby the deep state for foreign labor rather than pay fair wages to Americans.
Here’s how it happened.
pic.twitter.com/qk6jHK8bsF — Rep. Riley M. Moore (@RepRileyMoore) April 20, 2026
Moore wrote: “The story of these programs is simple: Big Tech chose to lobby the deep state for foreign labor rather than pay fair wages to Americans.” Moore claimed (without providing a source): “Today, nearly 450,000 foreigners hold jobs that should belong to Americans.” He added, “This is unacceptable.”
[NOTE: F-1 Students typically pay full tuition, and according to the Association of International Educators, international students contribute more than $40 billion annually to the U.S. economy.]
Moore added: “Because these programs were created without Congress and rely solely on DHS’ regulatory authority, @SecMullinDHS has all the authority he needs to terminate the OPT, Stem-OPT, and CPT programs.”
Critics of Moore’s suggestion are refuting his “simple” narrative, including one commenter who wrote: “OPT/STEM OPT roles require years of specialized training to fill. Your ‘simple story’ ignores why these programs exist in the first place, because domestic STEM pipelines have real, documented gaps. Ending OPT won’t create American jobs. Just sends talents somewhere else!!!”