The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), a component of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that oversees international student and scholar programs, announced on January 26, 2021 that it is rescinding Broadcast Message 2101-02: New SEVP Unit to Oversee Employment Compliance in the OPT Programs and Report on Impact of U.S. Workers, issued on January 13, 2021. SEVP determined that is already performing much of the work outlined in the message, and, as such, the unit’s creation is not necessary at this time.
The January 13 Broadcast Message, issued in the last days of the Trump Administration, proposed to create a new unit within SEVP, dedicated to full-time to compliance matters involving wage, hours, and compensation within OPT, the OPT extension, and Curricular Practical Training (CPT) programs, and responsible for recommending investigations of employers and students, as needed, to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to ensure that the OPT programs operate in a lawful manner at U.S. worksites.