U.S. immigration authorities have uncovered widespread abuse of an internship program that allows foreign students to remain after graduation. Identifying more than 10,000 students tied to highly suspect employers, officials described the discovery as being merely the “tip of the iceberg.”
Acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons announced the findings Tuesday, May 12, at a joint press conference with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, highlighting systemic fraud and abuse in the Optional Practical Training extension for F-1 students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.
“Over the past year, we’ve dramatically expanded our oversight of OPT and can report that we’ve found fraud nationwide,” Lyons said. “Today we are announcing that we have identified over 10,000 foreign students who claim to be working for highly suspect employers. And that’s just among the top 25 OPT employers. This is only the tip of the iceberg.”
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Officials said the OPT program, originally intended as limited post-graduation training, ballooned under the Biden administration into a large-scale fraud network. Lyons noted that while many students pursue legitimate opportunities, the agency has uncovered cases of espionage, biological threats, intellectual property theft and even scams targeting elderly Americans.
“Our nation will not tolerate security threats originating from the foreign student program,” Lyons said.
Investigators focused on the top 25 OPT employers and found alarming patterns of abuse for which the scope and severity could not be overstated.
Homeland Security Investigations agents conducted site visits in Virginia, Texas, Georgia, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina and Florida. They reported empty buildings, locked doors and mismatched addresses.
“We’ve discovered empty buildings and locked doors at addresses where hundreds of foreign students are allegedly employed,” Lyons said. “In many cases, multiple OPT employers claim to operate from the same address, but none actually leased the facility.”
Acting Executive Associate Director for HSI John Conant detailed specific cases from site visits in North Texas. One employer claimed just three OPT students, but records showed more than 500 claiming employment there. Representatives deferred questions to HR in India.
Conant described “shell company schemes” with shared management and websites, students funneled to unreported third parties, and financial red flags including suspicious international transactions. In one Houston case, a phony employer charged students under the table for fake visa maintenance.
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Lyons emphasized that the fraud involves both individual students entering false information and organized networks. “Foreign students themselves are entering false addresses, employer names into the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System,” he said. “But we are uncovering evidence of organized fraud that spans national and international borders. This is not accidental. It is deliberate, coordinated, and criminal.”
Officials warned participants to “return home or surrender immediately,” promising severe criminal, civil and immigration consequences. “DHS will relentlessly investigate, disrupt, and refer for prosecution anyone who exploits our programs,” Lyons said. “More actions are forthcoming.”
The announcement comes amid broader scrutiny of student visa programs, radicalism on campuses, and concerns for national security threats.
