Labor Department announces crackdown on H-1B visa fraud, human trafficking

The Department of Labor said Wednesday that it was intensifying its efforts to stem the flow of illegal H-1B visa entries into the United States. The Office of the Inspector General launched what it characterized as a major investigation on July 8 to crack down on fraud and human trafficking infiltrating the system.

Department of Labor Inspector General Anthony P. D’Esposito said in the Wednesday statement that for far too long, fraudsters believed that they could game the U.S. employment-based visa system and get away with it. He said his top priorities are exposing fraud, putting criminals in cuffs, and returning American jobs to the American people.

How is the program being abused, according to the administration? The H-1B visa program is designed to allow employers to hire nonimmigrant aliens as workers in specialty occupations or as fashion models of distinguished merit and ability. Vice President J.D. Vance reported pervasive abuse, specifically of the H-1B visa program, in a speech on Wednesday. The visa is meant to allow foreign workers with a highly specialized skill set to come work in the United States, yet it’s being severely abused by large corporations and fraudsters, Vance said. He added that labor officials have issued dozens of subpoenas into foreign fraudsters abusing the program.

Officially, a specialty occupation is one that requires highly specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or higher. The program was initiated to help employers who cannot obtain necessary skills from the U.S. workforce by providing temporary employment for qualified foreign individuals. However, according to a Wednesday statement by the Labor Department, the program has been heavily exploited.

Labor investigators discovered both employers and labor brokers abusing the visa system using fraudulent applications and coercive wage kickback agreements, according to the Wednesday report. These abuses allow employers to take advantage of foreign workers while also undercutting American workers by flooding the job market with below-wage labor, the department explained. These abuses line the pockets of those employers at the expense of American jobs, the statement said. 

Labor officials said they aimed to avoid future program abuses and called on workers harmed by visa fraud to speak up. Foreign workers who suffered exploitation, coercion, or fraudulent recruiting may confidentially report concerns to investigators, the department said.

Dig deeper: Read Addie Offereins’ report about the GOP divide on the H-1B visa debate.