🚨 NGOs ARE BEING USED TO HELP INTERNATIONAL GRADUATES “STOP” THEIR OPT CLOCK WITH UNPAID WORK. One website, OPT4Humanity, literally advertises unpaid OPT labor to nonprofits and startups. It tells organizations they can bring on international graduates as: • Unpaid volunteers • Equity-compensated workers • Project-based collaborators • Part-time employees And here’s the sales pitch: “Your mission moves forward without adding payroll cost.” The site says most placements are part-time and remote. It also explains what’s at stake for the graduate: “Without a role, a graduate’s time in the U.S. can end on a deadline.” And: “Don’t let the 90-day unemployment clock pressure your job search.” OPT4Humanity currently shows 3,560 candidate profiles. And it’s not alone. A LinkedIn post telling international students how to “stop your OPT clock” lists 12 NGOs, nonprofits and platforms, including OPT4Humanity and Community Dreams Foundation. The arrangement: Organizations get skilled labor with little or no payroll cost. OPT graduates get qualifying activity that can stop the unemployment clock. Unpaid work can be permitted under regular OPT when it meets federal requirements. But how large is this ecosystem of NGOs and nonprofits providing unpaid work that allows international graduates to remain in the U.S. while searching for paid employment? opt4humanity.org/opportuniti… @SecRubio @AAGDhillon @USLaborIG @StephenM @Sonderling47