The Department of Homeland Security has announced that an ICE investigation has identified over 10,000 potential cases of student visa fraud through the Optional Practical Training program.
🚨 HOLY SMOKES. ICE has just announced a jaw-dropping fraud bust, saying 10,000 FOREIGN students are involved in the federal government's Optional Practical Training
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 12, 2026
There are EMPTY BUILDINGS where HUNDREDS of students should be "working" as part of their ability to be in… pic.twitter.com/vmaKvrcBaT
ICE uncovered 10,000+ potential fraud cases in OPT: fake companies, shell employers, and foreign “management” schemes used to keep foreign grads here and undercut American workers.
— Senator Eric Schmitt (@SenEricSchmitt) May 12, 2026
OPT is not law. It’s a loophole.
End it. Put American graduates first. https://t.co/DKN0gFpZop
Fraud, more fraud, and fraud on top of that. The fraud within illegal immigration and numerous visa and asylum scandals has not even shown us a quarter of the actual fraud yet. We are massively losing taxpayer dollars, and the democrats want to push back and get rid of ICE. https://t.co/tz7cxiVuP9
— John Fabbricatore (@JohnE_Fabb) May 12, 2026
“Today, we are announcing that we have found over 10,000 who claim to be working for highly suspect employers,” Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said at a press conference. “This is only the tip of the iceberg. Over the past year, we dramatically expanded our oversight of OPT and can report that we found fraud nationwide.”
The Optional Practical Training program, or OPT, is an initiative that allows for foreign nationals who have entered the U.S. under a student visa to legally work for a period of 12 months and creates a streamlined path to transition to an H-1B visa.
Authorities say that foreign nationals have used false addresses and employers to facilitate the fraud. Some states where investigators have discovered fraudulent activity are Virginia, Texas, Georgia, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Florida.
Much of the fraud is said to have been facilitated by Indian companies, who have scurried around requirements that management and trainings be hosted by American companies.
“OPT employers are required to directly train foreign students, but we've seen multiple examples of alleged employers claiming that all management is overseas in India,” one investigator said.
The latest investigation by ICE comes after the Trump administration was the first to have accomplished net negative migration in 50 years.