Attorney General William Tong and 22 other attorneys general, along with the District of Columbia's, told the Department of Homeland Security in a Nov. 9 letter that its proposed $70,000 payment for each international student's work authorization is an unlawful tax and should be withdrawn. Tong's office released the comment letter on Nov. 12.
The proposal, published Oct. 8 in the Federal Register as "Optional Practical Training Fees," would require colleges and universities to pay DHS $70,000 before recommending an F-1 student for Optional Practical Training, known as OPT, and $30,000 for each later recommendation, such as a STEM extension. A student who gets both would cost the school $100,000. The proposed rule says schools could seek reimbursement from students or employers but would still have to send the money to DHS.
OPT lets international students on F-1 visas work in their fields of study, generally for 12 months, with a 24-month extension for graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, according to the attorney general's release. The coalition's letter says there is currently no fee for schools when students use OPT.
DHS rationale and cost estimate
DHS says the fees would "combat fraud, strengthen the integrity of the immigration system, and protect U.S. workers." The proposal would take effect 60 days after a final rule is published and would apply to recommendations dated on or after that date. A school could seek a refund if the student never receives a work-authorization document, but not after the student receives one.
DHS's own analysis puts annualized transfers under the rule at a primary estimate of $12.9 billion at a 7 percent discount rate and $12.8 billion at 3 percent, within a range of $8.8 billion to $17.0 billion that depends on how many fees schools pay. It separately estimates annualized costs at $4.1 billion. The coalition's letter relies on the $12.9 billion figure, and the release says that maintaining current participation, with more than 294,000 students in OPT nationwide in 2024-25, could force many schools to stop recommending students.
The states' legal arguments
The letter argues that the payment is a tax Congress has not authorized, not a fee, and cites a federal court ruling in Massachusetts, California v. Mullin, that held an earlier $100,000 H-1B payment unlawful. It says the First Circuit later found the government unlikely to succeed on appeal of that order. The states also argue that DHS did not adequately weigh costs, benefits or alternatives under the Administrative Procedure Act, and that 30 days to comment was too short for a rule with that cost. The letter notes that executive orders say comment periods should generally be at least 60 days.
The letter gives examples from other states, such as $530 million for the California State University system and $132 million for the University of Maryland, College Park. Neither the letter nor the release gives a Connecticut figure for students in OPT or for what Connecticut schools would owe.
The release says Tong called the payment an "unlawful $100,000 fee." The records read for this story do not include a DHS response to the letter.
