Contact Me  |   Media Center  |   Our District

	Weekly NewsletterDecember 14, 2025 ICYMI: It’s Time to End OPT and Put American Workers First Earlier this week, the Daily Signal published my editorial regarding the Optional Practical Training Program (OPT), a little-known, unauthorized guest worker program that operates outside the law, undercuts American students, and exposes our nation to significant economic and national-security risks.  I have a bill in Congress to terminate OPT and it’s picking up support and gaining steam.  If you missed it, below is my entire editorial. For too long, Washington has allowed a massive, unauthorized foreign guest-worker pipeline to operate outside the law, undercut American students, and expose our nation to significant economic and national-security risks. It’s called Optional Practical Training, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement program created by bureaucratic fiat in 1992 and radically expanded by the Obama administration.  And Congress never authorized a word of it. That is why it is time—past time—for Congress to pass my legislation, HR 2315, the Fairness for High-Skilled Americans Act, and finally shut this program down.  Optional Practical Training was designed to allow foreign students with F-1 visas to remain in the United States after completing their studies. But instead of a short transition period, the program has ballooned into a sprawling, de facto guest-worker system allowing foreign nationals—many of whom studied here for only a single year—to stay and work in STEM fields for up to three years. It now serves as a shadow substitute for the H-1B visa program, circumventing the very caps Congress put in place to protect American workers.  Advocates claim OPT fills workforce gaps. In reality, it helps create them. Employers are heavily incentivized to hire OPT workers because those workers are exempt from FICA and Medicare payroll taxes, generating a government-subsidized discount for Big Tech and Big Pharma.   According to independent analyses, this loophole costs the Social Security and Medicare trust funds roughly $4 billion every year. Meanwhile, American STEM graduates—who worked hard, paid taxes, and played by the rules—are pushed to the back of the hiring line.  The numbers tell the story. In 2024 alone, ICE authorized work permits for nearly 200,000 OPT participants, a 21% jump from the previous year, with tens of thousands more through the STEM extension.   The beneficiaries overwhelmingly come from countries like China and India—nations whose strategic interests do not always align with our own. And the federal government lacks even basic visibility into how many foreign graduates are actually working in sensitive American industries at any given moment. ICE itself has admitted its recordkeeping is inadequate.  This isn’t just an economic issue—it’s a national security one. A 2022 Government Accountability Office report warned that ICE has not evaluated OPT’s vulnerability to espionage or foreign interference. Yet the Department of Homeland Security continues expanding the list of OPT-eligible STEM fields to include artificial intelligence, telecommunications, semiconductor engineering, nuclear engineering, missile systems, reproductive biology, and critical infrastructure management—sectors our adversaries are actively targeting.  Why would we invite foreign students from strategic competitors to work inside America’s most sensitive research, technology, and defense sectors—often without meaningful oversight? Why would we maintain an unregulated guest-worker pipeline that Congress never approved? And why would we subsidize it with taxpayer dollars?  The answer is simple: We shouldn’t.  Small businesses in my great state of Arizona and all across the country—the backbone of the American economy—are the ones most harmed by this dysfunctional system. They cannot compete with multibillion-dollar corporations that reap tax advantages for hiring cheaper foreign labor.   Meanwhile, American graduates, especially in STEM fields, face an uphill battle securing good-paying jobs in industries their own tax dollars helped build. The solution is equally simple: terminate OPT. Because the program was created unilaterally by the executive branch, it can be ended with the stroke of a pen. But to ensure it stays gone—and to prevent future administrations from resurrecting similar schemes—Congress must act. The Fairness for High-Skilled Americans Act permanently ends the OPT program and prohibits any future administration from recreating it without explicit authorization from Congress. It restores congressional authority over immigration policy, protects American workers, strengthens national security, and closes a tax loophole that drains billions from Social Security and Medicare. President Donald Trump is fighting to restore the “America First” priorities that put our families, students, and workers first. Congress must do the same. The American people have been clear: They want an immigration system that serves them—not Big Tech, not multinational corporations, and not foreign adversaries.It is time to end the largest unregulated guest-worker program in the country. It is time to protect American students and safeguard our critical industries. And it is time to pass HR 2315.America’s future—and the security of its workforce—depends on it. ICE Detains Criminal Alien Sicko Who Sexually Assaulted a 10-Year-Old Girl in ArizonaThis week, a criminal alien from Liberia was arrested for impersonating a doctor and sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl at Orangewood Elementary School.  This monster should never have been in our country. The Biden administration failed this innocent little girl.  Warning: if you have small children who read the Gosar Newsletter, the details of the attack are graphic.  Officers discovered that a man who was not authorized to be at the school had made his way inside, lured the young student into a classroom and sexually assaulted her. The victim told police that the suspect told her he was a doctor and that he needed to perform tests, according to court documents. This scumbag was arrested in 2021 for two counts of sexual conduct with a minor and later convicted. In 2022, he was arrested for smuggling aliens and was convicted of those charges.  Joe Biden never deported him. I share this heartbreaking story because, had this creep been deported, what happened to this young girl could have been prevented.  Americans, especially 10-year-old girls, should never have to live in fear because our laws are inconsistently enforced.  That is why I recently introduced the Criminal Alien Removal Clarification Act,legislation that reaffirms and strengthens the federal government’s authority to deport non-citizens who have been convicted of serious crimes, including any felony or two or more misdemeanors. My legislation makes it unmistakably clear that criminal aliens have no right to remain in the United States.  If you are a guest in this country and choose to commit a felony—or repeatedly break our laws—you forfeit the privilege of staying here.  Period.   Nearly 20,000 Terrorists Entered the U.S. Under BidenMore troubling news concerning aliens in our country.  Top intelligence officials testified this week in Congress that 18,000 people on the FBI terrorism watch list were brought into the country during the Biden administration’s botched 2021 retreat from Afghanistan.  During the hearing, National Counterterrorism Center Director Joseph Kent told lawmakers that the 18,000 doesn’t include lawbreakers who came here illegally through Biden’s open border, testifying “That number alarmingly remains unknown at this time.”  Kent also testified that “The No. 1 threat that we have right now, in America, is the fact that we don’t know who came into our country in the last four years of Biden’s open borders.”  This week’s hearing in Congress highlights what I have been saying for years: our immigration system is overwhelmed and unmanageable thanks in large part to Sleepy Joe’s open border policies while he occupied the White House and brings me to my next point:  We need to stop all immigration.  As I noted in last week’s newsletter, Irecently introduced H.R. 6374, legislation providing a 10-year moratorium on all immigration into the United States.   Immigration must be legal, orderly, and in the national interest. Every nation has the right and responsibility to secure its borders and protect its people. My legislation imposes a 10-year moratorium on all immigration until our system is restored, our borders are secured, and future immigration can occur safely and in a way that strengthens our country. It’s Mail Time!📬 I receive thousands of letters each month from constituents, and I appreciate hearing from everyone who writes in.  Here are a few letters I recently received. 📨 Richard A. from Wickenburg, AZ writes:The President of the United States correctly designated Tren de Aragua (TdA), a vicious Venezuelan gang, as a foreign-terrorist organization. The President correctly put these terrorists on planes to get them the hell out of our country. Yet DC Obama Judge James Boasberg thinks he has the power to order the President to turn around the planes in mid-air and bring back these terrorists into America. This is the most dangerous constitutional crisis imaginable. The President has a constitutional duty, as the chief executive officer and commander-in-chief, to ignore Judge Boasberg’s lawless and dangerous order. The Supreme Court must use the emergency docket to immediately stay Judge Boasberg’s order.  Judge Boasberg also personally authorized “Operation Arctic Frost,” a secret surveillance initiative that was later revealed to have unlawfully targeted sitting members of Congress. Under this authorization, federal intelligence agencies monitored the private communications of at least nine U.S. senators without a lawful warrant or probable cause. Boasberg not only permitted this illegal spying operation but also failed to notify the affected senators as required by federal law—an egregious violation of separation of powers and congressional oversight. The House must impeach Judge Boasberg for abuse of power. The Senate must convict Judge Boasberg. And the Congress must defund his court. Richard: I agree that Congress has a solemn duty to act when a federal judge’s conduct raises serious questions about impartiality and the proper use of judicial power.  In this case, it’s blatantly obvious.I support the effort to impeach Judge Boasberg because, in my view, his pattern of decisions reflects a troubling misuse of authority that many Americans rightly perceive as political “lawfare.” The impeachment power exists precisely for moments like this—when a judge’s actions appear to undermine equal justice under the law, erode public trust in the judiciary, and distort the Constitution’s careful separation of powers.No judge is above accountability. When rulings consistently favor one political interest while disadvantaging another, when the bench is used in ways that appear to advance an ideological agenda rather than uphold neutral principles, and when Americans lose confidence that justice is being administered fairly, Congress has both the right and the responsibility to act. Impeachment is never undertaken lightly. But the integrity of our constitutional system demands that we confront abuses—real or perceived—that threaten the rule of law. My support for this action is rooted in a commitment to restore balance, transparency, and trust in our judiciary.  I will continue to stand firmly against the political weaponization of the courts and for the equal protection of every American.  📨 Brandon V. from Buckeye, AZ shares:I am writing to urge Congress to take decisive action to ensure the United States maintains its global leadership on AI policy.  We are currently in a critical race with nations like China, which are aggressively investing billions to dominate this technology.  Unfortunately, America’s progress is being severely hampered by a conflicting patchwork of state-level rules and regulations.  This confusion is slowing innovation, creating unnecessary barriers for our business, and, most importantly, putting high-value American jobs and our overall economic growth at risk.  Brandon – Artificial general intelligence has long been a national priority, and today its development is central to America’s economic and strategic future. While the Biden administration issued rules to expand AI infrastructure, these measures do not address the core challenge: fragmented state regulation. History shows the United States is most competitive when emerging technologies are governed by a single national framework, not 50 conflicting state regimes. Congress has clear authority under the Commerce Clause to preempt state regulation of AI, ensuring a uniform system that fosters innovation. China has rapidly expanded state-backed AI investment, while states like California have imposed restrictive rules that weaken America’s competitive edge. To win the AI race, we must prevent states from undermining national priorities.That is why I supported President Trump’s national framework for artificial intelligence that would prevent state AI regulations from stifling innovation and have pushed for AI-driven oversight to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in federal programs. AI is a tool that can strengthen American security and prosperity—if we allow it to flourish nationally.Senator Ted Cruz’s SANDBOX Act advances this goal by establishing a flexible federal AI framework and empowering OSTP to adjust regulations as needed. President Trump’s recent executive order further ensures federal primacy by challenging unconstitutional state restrictions and preventing a patchwork of state rules that stifle innovation.Energy Secretary Chris Wright views artificial intelligence as “the Manhattan Project of our time” meaning it is fundamental for our global military and economic security.  In explaining the need for his executive order, President Trump noted that “It’s a massive industry. We’re leading China. We’re leading everybody by a tremendous amount …But one of the things that it has is you have to have a central source of approval. When they need approvals on things, they have to come to one source. They can’t go to California, New York, and various other places.”  In other words, the development of AI and support datacenters is too important to allow states like California to ban it.  To keep America strong, we must adopt a cohesive federal AI policy that encourages innovation, protects national interests, and ensures we—not China—lead the world in this defining technology. I support the administration’s efforts and believe Congress must work with the President to secure America’s AI future. Tweet of the Week: Photo of the Week: 📸 Tom and Christine Otero from Lake Havasu, AZ share this cool photo of another gorgeous Arizona sunset taken from the foot of the Hualapai Mountains.  It’s Christmas Time!  Do you want the chance for your photograph to be featured as our “Picture of the Week?”   If so, send your best shots of holiday photos along with a brief description to Anthony.foti@mail.house.gov.  Remember to include your name and where you live. 🎄🎁❄🎅 Gosar in the News and Other Must-Read Stories: 📰 Economic Times: Rep. Gosar calls for end to OPT, claims program ‘unauthorized’ and harmful to American workers 🗞 KTAR: Phoenix man arrested for allegedly posing as doctor, sexually assaulting girl at elementary school 📰 Denver Gazette: US admitted 18,000 known and suspected terrorists from Afghanistan in 2021: Official 🗞 New York Post: Citizens are fed up with Dem-invited migrants who have disdain for US law and culture 📰 Fox News: DC police chief resigns amid crime data manipulation probe ⚠ Warning!!  The Gosar Weekly Newsletter is meant for discerning readers with above-average intelligence.  We link to interesting stories.  We get stories a couple different ways: Google alerts, a third-party aggregator and sometimes readers send stuff.  We don’t vouch for every publication or every author.  If we link to a story, it is because of that story. The views expressed in any of the publications do not represent any promotion, endorsement or reflection of Congressman Gosar’s views.  While we try our best, we cannot guarantee every news organization spouting hatred, animosity or divisiveness will be filtered from appearing in the Gosar Weekly Newsletter.  We will endeavor to prevent that from happening by never linking to Fake News organizations including CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Rolling Stone, the Arizona Republic, the Arizona Mirror, Media Matters or the New Republic.          WEBSITE |  UNSUBSCRIBE |  CONTACT ME  Share on Facebook | Share on Twitter

Washington, DC Office 2057 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515 Phone: (202) 225-2315Goodyear 1300 S. Litchfield Road Suite 115-H Goodyear, AZ 85338 Phone: 623-707-0530

Click Here to view this email in your browser  Click Here to be removed from this list

View in your browser