The Washington Alliance of Technology Workers (WashTech),a collective bargaining organization that represents science, technology,engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workers, has sued the U.S. Department ofHomeland Security seeking to eliminate the Optional Practical Training (OPT)program. The OPT program allows foreignnationals on an F-1 student visa to engage in twelve months of employmentduring and following a full-time course load in a U.S. educational institution. Certain STEM applicants can extend their OPTstatus an additional 17 months, pursuant to an April 2008 instituted by PresidentGeorge W. Bush’s administration. The OPT is often seen as a bridge to the H-1B program.
WashTech arguesthat the OPT program causes actual harm to US technology workers because USemployers hire these OPT workers when the employers could be hiring these USworkers. The WashTech plaintiffs have standing to make their case. The court’s finding thatstanding exists means that the case can go forward, although the court’s decisiondoes not speak to the likelihood of success when the substantive case is argued.