Grothman Introduces OPT Tax Bill After 10,000 Phantom Workers Uncovered

1 articles · Updated · Fox News · May 21

Rep. Glenn Grothman on Thursday proposed the OPT Fair Tax Act, a House bill that would require employers to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on OPT workers just as they do for U.S. hires.
ICE said the push followed an investigation that identified more than 10,000 foreign students tied to suspect employers among the top 25 OPT employers, including "phantom employees" who allegedly never reported to claimed worksites.
Current law exempts employers and many foreign students in the Optional Practical Training program from those payroll taxes, a break Grothman says encourages companies to hire OPT workers over American graduates.
About 330,000 students joined OPT annually from fiscal 2017 to 2022, according to Institute for Progress data cited by Grothman, which estimated ending the exemption could raise $27 billion to $36 billion over 10 years.
The measure is the House companion to a Senate bill introduced by Sen. Tom Cotton in September, as Republicans intensify scrutiny of a program ICE says has grown into a large, fraud-prone guest-worker pipeline.

As a massive fraud investigation unfolds, can the U.S. still attract the world’s brightest students?

With 10,000 'phantom employees' found, how deep does the corruption in this student work program actually go?