Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not identified or assessed fraud or noncompliance risks posed by schools taking foreign students approved for optional practical training, or OPT, in accordance with DHS risk management guidance, GAO has said.
It said ICE’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program officials consider OPT to be a low-risk employment benefit for foreign students because, in part, they believe foreign students approved for OPT do not have an incentive to jeopardize their legal status in the U.S.
However, the student program has not determined potential risks, and officials from ICE’s investigative unit and ICE field agents GAO interviewed have identified potential risks involving OPT based on prior and ongoing investigations, according to GAO-14-356.
It said that as of November 2013, about 100,000 of the approximately one million foreign students in the U.S. were approved to participate in OPT, an employment benefit that allows foreign students to obtain temporary work in their areas of study during and after completing an academic program.
ICE agreed to identify and assess OPT-related risks and require additional employment information from students and schools.
