New H-1B Visa Crackdown

Trump administration launches broad H-1B visa investigations targeting fraud and worker exploitation.

The Trump administration is intensifying H-1B visa scrutiny through a Labor Department investigation into alleged fraud, sham employers and jobs, worker exploitation and possible human trafficking; investigators say they have issued subpoenas and executed search warrants, and some applications have been suspended. Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito said the system could look substantially different within a year and said investigators are examining potential criminal conduct, not just paperwork violations. Separately, President Donald Trump’s executive order directs agencies to consider employers’ recent or planned layoffs of comparable U.S. workers when reviewing H-1B applications, while federal departments expand coordination. The administration has continued the $100,000 fee requirement for certain applicants entering from abroad through September 2027, though a federal judge previously ruled the original fee unlawful. Vice President JD Vance says the measures aim to prevent companies from replacing American workers with lower-paid foreign hires while preserving visas for highly skilled workers; the White House says registrations from major IT outsourcing firms have fallen 92 percent.

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