BY VEENA RAO
Washington, D.C., May 12, 2026: Todd Lyons, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, announced Tuesday that federal investigators have identified more than 10,000 cases of potential fraud linked to the 24-month STEM Optional Practical Training (OPT) extension, a program that allows certain international students on F-1 visas to remain and work in the United States after graduation.
Speaking at an afternoon press conference alongside officials from Homeland Security Investigations, Lyons described the OPT program as a “magnet for fraud,” alleging that a growing number of foreign students and employers have exploited the system through fake job placements, shell companies, and fabricated worksite addresses.
“Our nation will not tolerate security threats originating from the foreign student program,” Lyons said, adding that ICE investigations have uncovered cases involving alleged visa fraud, employment fraud, intellectual property theft, financial scams, and other criminal activity involving individuals accused of abusing student visa status.
The OPT program, created during the administration of George W. Bush and later expanded under Barack Obama, was originally designed to allow foreign graduates to gain short-term practical training in fields related to their academic studies. Lyons said the program had since “ballooned into an uncontrolled guest worker pipeline,” with hundreds of thousands of foreign graduates now working in the United States under OPT authorization.
According to Lyons, the 10,000 cases identified so far involve students linked to what ICE called “highly suspect employers,” focusing initially on the top 25 employers participating in the OPT system. He said the number likely represents “only the tip of the iceberg.”
Lyons described a pattern of suspicious worksite activity across multiple states, including Georgia, Texas, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Illinois, and Florida. He said investigators encountered empty office buildings, locked doors, residential homes listed as corporate worksites, and post office boxes being used as business addresses for companies allegedly employing hundreds of foreign students.
Lyons said many employers under investigation showed other warning signs, including tax liens, civil lawsuits, unpaid debts, questionable international financial transactions, and failure to maintain basic employment records. In some cases, companies claimed that payroll and human resources operations were being handled overseas, including in India.
During the briefing, an HSI official said investigators recently conducted site visits at 18 OPT-linked work locations in North Texas. Officials described discovering “coordinated employer clusters,” where multiple companies operating from the same building appeared to share nearly identical websites, job postings, and management personnel while denying business connections.
In one case, investigators said a company reported employing only three foreign students, while government records showed more than 500 students had listed the company as their employer. Representatives allegedly could not answer basic questions about their business operations and referred investigators to managers based in India.
Investigators also cited examples from Georgia, where one alleged IT employer listed only a post office box as its work address, and from New Jersey, where a company claiming to employ more than 150 foreign students could not identify most of them. In New York, investigators said a man listed as an employer denied knowledge of his own company despite records and student statements indicating otherwise.
Lyons said investigators are now examining whether the fraud involves organized international networks.
“This is not accidental. It is deliberate, coordinated, and criminal,” he said, warning that employers and foreign nationals found abusing the system could face criminal prosecution, immigration consequences, and removal proceedings.
“If you’re an employer or a foreign student engaged in fraud against the United States, you are advised to return home or surrender immediately. The criminal, civil, and immigration consequences for fraud are severe and unavoidable,” Lyons said.
The announcement comes amid broader scrutiny of the OPT program, which allows F-1 students with qualifying science, technology, engineering, and mathematics degrees to work in the United States for up to three years after graduation. ICE officials said additional enforcement actions and disclosures are expected in the coming weeks.
📺WATCH: New ICE HSI data shows rampant foreign student fraud — ICE director says these probes are only the beginning.
— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (@ICEgov) May 12, 2026
➡️We’ve identified over 10,000 foreign students who claim to be working for highly-suspect employers.
➡️We’ve discovered empty buildings and locked doors at… pic.twitter.com/RS51VLKM1V
