🚨 WHY DOES U.S. LAW GIVE EMPLOYERS A TAX ADVANTAGE TO HIRE A FOREIGNER OVER AN AMERICAN? Same job. Same $100,000 salary. But here’s what federal law allows: • The employer can save $7,650 annually by hiring a qualifying foreign worker. • That foreign worker can also take home $7,650 MORE than an American earning the exact same salary, before income taxes. How is this possible? OPT (Optional Practical Training) is a government-created program allowing international students to work in America for up to 12 months, or up to 36 months for eligible STEM graduates. Under IRS rules, qualifying OPT workers who are nonresident aliens are exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes. At a $100,000 salary: 🇺🇸 AMERICAN WORKER Employer payroll taxes: $7,650 Total employer cost: $107,650 Employee Social Security/Medicare: $7,650 Pay after FICA, before income taxes: $92,350 🌎 QUALIFYING OPT WORKER Employer payroll taxes: $0 Total employer cost: $100,000 Employee Social Security/Medicare: $0 Pay after FICA, before income taxes: $100,000 Think about that. An American college graduate and an international graduate could be working side by side, doing the exact same job, earning the exact same salary. Yet the employer saves thousands by hiring the foreign worker. And the foreign worker keeps thousands more from that paycheck. The American worker costs more to employ AND keeps less of the same salary. Not because of the employer’s decision. Because of federal tax law. This isn’t about blaming foreign students. It’s about asking why American workers face a tax disadvantage built into their own country’s laws. Why hasn’t Congress or this administration addressed this?