Congressional proposal would eliminate companies’ exemption from Social Security, Medicare taxes
By Bob Unruh
A federal plan that for years has provided special privileges to employers who hire foreigners instead of qualified Americans has been put in a bull’s-eye in a new congressional plan.
The move comes after Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently delivered a bombshell, that federal investigators had found more than 10,000 foreign students linked to “suspect employers” in what could be a massive fraud.
At issue is the federal STEM Optional Practical Training extension program.
Federal officials confirmed that program lets international students on F-1 visas work temporarily in the country in positions in their field of study. But it has, they charged, “ballooned into an uncontrolled guest worker pipeline” with hundreds of thousands of foreign students taking U.S. jobs.
The fraud apparently comes partly from the fact some of the “employers” appear to be fake.
Now Fox News is reporting the situation has prompted Republicans in Congress to address the problem.