**Bipartisan Bill Aims to Protect International Students' Work Rights in the US** A new bill introduced by Representatives Sam Liccardo (D-CA) and Jay Obernolte (R-CA) seeks to safeguard the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, which allows hundreds of thousands of foreign students to work in the US for a year after graduation. The bill aims to codify the program, which has been a target of the Trump administration's efforts to restrict legal immigration. The OPT program has been in place since 1992, when it was introduced by President George H.W. Bush under the authority of the Department of Justice. The program functions as a bridge between student visas (F-1s) and H-1Bs, allowing international students to gain work experience in their field of study. Between 2006 and 2022, 56 percent of international students who entered the country on F-1 visas enrolled in OPT, according to data from the Institute for Progress. Students with postgraduate degrees are more likely to participate in OPT, and those in STEM fields are more likely to use the program to find work in the US. The Department of Homeland Security's statistics show that 165,524 foreign students participated in STEM OPT in 2024 alone. STEM PhDs have the highest rate of participation in OPT, with 76 percent of graduates enrolling in the program. The OPT program enables hundreds of thousands of international students to contribute to the US economy, according to Liccardo. "The alternative to OPT is to educate these brilliant people and to then send them back to their countries of origin, where they'll start companies to compete against us," he said in an interview with *The Verge*. The bill aims to provide stability to the OPT program, which has not been codified by Congress. The program has been expanded by previous administrations, including both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, who increased the OPT period for students with STEM degrees. The current administration's efforts to restrict the program have raised concerns among lawmakers and advocates for international students. "It's never had a life in statute," Liccardo said, "which is precisely why in this environment, in which every two hours there's a new idea about how this administration can cut the United States off from the world — whether that's choking off immigration or making it harder for people to work in the US — we're trying to provide some stability to the program."