ICE Flags Over 10,000 Foreign Students In Suspected STEM OPT Fraud
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons announced on May 12, 2026 that ICE has flagged more than 10,000 foreign students linked to suspected fraud among the STEM Optional Practical Training (STEM OPT) program's top 25 employers.[1]
Homeland Security Investigations officers visited sites in Virginia, Texas, Georgia, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina and Florida and found empty buildings, locked doors and overlapping employer addresses.[1] ICE investigators said some students were "phantom employees" who obtained work authorization but never showed up, and Lyons called the activity deliberate, coordinated criminal fraud rather than accidental errors.[1]
ICE's review focused on the program's top 25 STEM OPT employers, officials said, prompting the site checks that exposed the empty offices and mismatched addresses.[1] STEM OPT lets certain international graduates extend work authorization after standard Optional Practical Training so they can work in science, technology, engineering and math fields.
The agency said the pattern points to coordinated criminal behavior rather than paperwork errors, and the disclosures raise fresh questions about oversight of employer sponsors in the STEM OPT program.[1]
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📌 Key Facts
- On Tuesday, May 12, 2026, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons announced that ICE has identified more than 10,000 foreign students tied to highly suspect STEM OPT employers among the program's top 25 employers.
- Homeland Security Investigations officers have conducted site visits in Virginia, Texas, Georgia, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina and Florida, finding empty buildings, locked doors and overlapping employer addresses.
- ICE investigators report cases of "phantom employees" who obtained OPT work authorization but never showed up at the claimed job sites, which Lyons characterized as deliberate, coordinated criminal fraud rather than accidental errors.
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