Senator Raises Concerns Over H-1B Visa Abuse as DHS Reviews Student Work Program

WASHINGTON — A Republican senator raised concerns about alleged abuse of employment-based visa programs, including the H-1B system and Optional Practical Training (OPT), during a Senate oversight hearing, prompting the Department of Homeland Security to confirm it is reviewing the student work program.

Speaking during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Senator Eric Schmitt said the H-1B visa program was increasingly being used in ways that could disadvantage American workers.

“For those listening, the H-1B programme was marketed as a programme to bring in the best and the brightest for jobs that we don’t have people for,” Schmitt said.

“What’s happening is this abuse, is that American citizens are being displaced by cheaper, more obedient foreign labour.”

Schmitt also criticized the Optional Practical Training program, which allows foreign students studying in the United States to work after completing their degrees.

He argued that the program has effectively become “visa mills for universities taking away opportunities for American students because they don’t have to pay taxes on the foreign labour for at least a year if you have this visa for OPT.”

According to Schmitt, misuse of the program has become widespread.

“The abuse has been pretty rampant,” he said.

Schmitt told the committee he had written to the Department of Homeland Security requesting a review of both the H-1B visa system and the scope and duration of the OPT program.

Responding during the hearing, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed the department had already begun reviewing the student work program.

“Yes, we are. We’re continuing to do that review now, and it will be completed here in 2026,” Noem said.

Schmitt pressed the secretary on whether the department would complete the reevaluation within the year.

“Yes, we are. We’re continuing to do that review now, and it will be completed here in 2026,” Noem replied.

The exchange took place during a broader hearing focused on immigration enforcement, border security and oversight of the Department of Homeland Security.

Lawmakers questioned Noem on several aspects of immigration policy, including deportations, detention practices and national security concerns.

Discussion of H-1B visas and the OPT program was one of the few portions of the hearing focused on legal immigration pathways rather than enforcement measures targeting undocumented migrants.

The Department of Homeland Security oversees immigration compliance and visa programs through agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. (Source: IANS)