On October 4, a federal appeals court upheld the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) statutory authority to create and maintain optional practical training (OPT) programs for F-1 students. The Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (WashTech) had challenged DHS's authority in a series of lawsuits.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held:
As Congress itself has recognized, the Secretary’s statutory authority to set the “conditions” of nonimmigrants’ stay in the United States includes the power to authorize employment reasonably related to the nonimmigrant visa class. Authorizing foreign students to engage in limited periods of employment for practical training as their schools recommend according to the terms set out in the Rule is a valid exercise of that power... we affirm the judgment of the district court sustaining the OPT Rule’s authorization of a limited period of post-coursework Optional Practical Training, if recommended and overseen by the school and approved by DHS, for qualifying students on F-1 visas.
The appeals court’s decision affirmed the finding of the district court that DHS did not exceed its statutory authority in issuing the 2016 OPT Program Rule. This means the courts concluded that both the standard 12-month OPT and the STEM OPT extension programs were lawfully within DHS's authority to enact.