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The Cato Institute estimates that about two million total petitions are impacted, including one million applications for work authorization. But experts say there has been no indication from USCIS about when applications will be reviewed again, forcing students like Pulido to make difficult decisions.
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But the language USCIS has used to discuss the pause with other news outlets has strayed away from the national security narrative to describe OPT as something that is “undermining” American workers.
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The pause is creating financial hardship for many international graduates. On top of the loss of income, they have paid several hundred dollars to apply for OPT, and some students, including Pulido, paid an extra $1,800 for the application to be expedited before they learned of the pause. He’s sought a refund but said he was told it couldn’t be provided due to the pause.
Beyond the financial impacts, under OPT regulations F-1 visa holders can only be unemployed for a set number of days before they violate their nonimmigrant status.
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Students and others affected by the pause have begun filing lawsuits, hoping judges will order USCIS to process their petitions. Zachary New, an attorney with the law firm Joseph & Hall, which is representing students in two lawsuits contesting the pause, said the situation is getting dire for many of those affected.
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According to New, about 30 lawsuits have been filed challenging the processing freeze, and judges have granted four injunctions requiring USCIS to process those plaintiffs’ petitions.
The program leader of Project Unpause, a grassroots group advocating for USCIS to begin processing the applications again, said that currently the only way to move them forward seems to be to sue. (The program leader requested anonymity, because she, too, is an immigrant impacted by the processing freeze.) But even that pathway is hard for many to access; some law firms are asking plaintiffs for several thousand dollars, which is financially unfeasible, especially for those who are out of work due to the pause.
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Some foreign-born faculty working in the U.S. are also impacted by the pause. One professor at a public university, who requested anonymity, said he was approved for a National Interest Waiver process, which offers individuals whose skills would be beneficial to the U.S. a pathway to permanent residency.
He officially applied for his green card in November, a month before the freeze began. Because he was approved for the NIW, he said, he had already undergone a rigorous screening process.
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The post Pause on Some OPT Applications Has Left Students in Limbo for Months appeared first on American Renaissance.
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