Who is Joseph Edlow? The new USCIS director who wants to end the OPT program for foreign students in US

Joseph Edlow, who has raised concerns about the current US Optional Practical Training (OPT) program model, is set to become the Director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Joseph Edlow has been confirmed as the USCIS Director by the Senate, with his role expected to significantly contribute to President Trump’s immigration agenda.

From February 2020 to January 2021, Edlow was the Deputy Director for Policy/Acting Director at USCIS. Joe Edlow was a Visiting Fellow in the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation.

After the go-ahead from the Senate, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued a statement, “Under the Homeland Security Act, the USCIS Director is tasked with processing applications for individuals who want to immigrate or remain in the United States legally.

However, Edlow has made clear that he does not intend to do this job. Instead, he plans to use USCIS to implement the Trump Administration’s extreme and illegal mass deportation effort, sweeping up even immigrants who are in our country lawfully with no criminal convictions. These actions—like many of President Trump’s decisions on immigration—have nothing to do with protecting public safety or national security.”

The hugely popular OPT program could be the first casualty. Under the OPT program, international students can work 12 months in their major subject before or after course requirements, and an extra 24 months in STEM OPT allows them to gain real-world experience beyond OPT.

During his nomination hearing, Edlow stated that USCIS should remove OPT employment authorizations for F1 students beyond school. The Act does not provide for OPT work authorization.

Edlow criticized the handling of OPT over the past four years, citing misapplication of the law. He plans to work with DHS counterparts and Congressional partners to address this issue.

Edlow also remarked against CPT work authorizations, which allow foreign students to work in the school’s curriculum, stating they are ‘statutorily-suspect’ due to Supreme Court rulings. He supports ICE and DHS’s review of CPT if finally appointed as USCIS director.

Edlow supports immigration restrictions, including limiting F-1 students’ optional practical training and shifting USCIS’s focus to enforcement, vetting, screening, and fraud detection, with a significant increase in case processing for the Fraud Detection.

Joseph Edlow serves as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General with the Office of Legal Policy at the Department of Justice, where he primarily focuses on immigration policy matters.

Prior to joining the Department, Edlow worked in the House of Representatives from 2015-2018, first in the Office of Rep. Raul Labrador and then as counsel on the Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee.

In the latter role, Edlow focused on enforcement and criminal immigration matters. Before that, he worked for six and a half years for the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as an Assistant Chief Counsel in
the Baltimore Field Office.

Edlow regularly represented DHS in removal proceedings before the U.S. Immigration Courts and advised ICE’s law enforcement components on immigration and criminal matters. Edlow specifically handled all gang matters, was involved in worksite enforcement, and national security matters.

Edlow earned a Bachelor of Arts from Brandeis University and a Juris Doctor from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.