Lily Tang Williams, Republican candidate for New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District, said on May 19 that the federal Optional Practical Training (OPT) program creates unfair employment conditions for American college graduates in the state.
“There is one major financial incentive for employers hiring OPT (and STEM OPT) workers by the US immigration policy: exemption from FICA payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare) for many participants,” Williams wrote in a post on X. “OPT is not fair to our American college graduates by offering financial incentives to hire foreign students. It also provides backdoor supplies to H-1B visas. It needs to be repealed.”
According to the Higher Ed Immigration Portal, New Hampshire higher education institutions have roughly 8,000 international students, with 1,393 OPT participants connected to local institutions during 2024. Data from 2022 shows the state had an OPT retention rate of 14%, meaning 86% of the students enrolled in the program left New Hampshire after completing the program.
Nationally, OPT participation reached 294,253 international students in the most recent academic year — a 21% increase from the prior year — forming part of broader international student enrollment exceeding 1.1 million, when including those on work authorization after degree completion, according to the Institute of International Education.
Williams is an entrepreneur and a naturalized U.S. citizen who immigrated from China, according to her campaign website.
