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The U.S. Supreme Court opted not to take up a case challenging the expansion of a visa program that lets international students in STEM fields stay in the country longer after graduation to pursue employment, the court announced on Monday. The decision lets stand a lower court ruling, which held that the optional practical training program extension was lawful.
The program, usually referred to as OPT, allows student visa holders to extend their stay by up to a year, during which time they’re expected to find sponsorship for a work visa or another long-term residency option. In 2008 the Department of Homeland Security added a two-year extension to that program specifically for tech workers, which the plaintiffs in the case, the labor union Washington Alliance of Technology Workers, argued put American workers in the sector at a disadvantage.
The Supreme Court’s decision to pass on the case is the latest, and perhaps final, development in a years-long legal battle that WashTech attempted to bring before the high court through the appeals process after a judge ruled against it in 2021.
The plaintiffs had argued unsuccessfully that the program pushes U.S. citizens in STEM fields out of work and the Department of Homeland Security had no legal authority to implement the extension.
