FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Labor revealed it has launched at least 175 ongoing investigations targeting potential abuses within the H-1B visa program as part of its mission to protect American jobs and ensure only necessary foreign workers are employed in the U.S.
The DOL launched Project Firewall in September to ensure that employers prioritize qualified Americans for job positions and do not abuse the H1B visa program, which allows U.S. companies to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations.
The aggressive federal crackdown on potential abuse of the program includes Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer personally certifying the initiation of investigations - which is a mechanism that the department has never used before, Fox Digital learned.
"The Labor Department is using every resource currently at our disposal to put a stop to H-1B visa abuse, and for the first time, I am personally certifying investigations into suspected violations to better protect American jobs," Chavez-DeRemer told Fox News Digital in a statement.
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"Under the leadership of President Trump, we will continue to invest in our workforce, ensuring high-skilled job opportunities go to American workers first."
The DOL's September announcement was launched the same day President Donald Trump signed a proclamation that imposed a $100,000 one-time fee on H-1B visa petitions. The White House previously told Fox News Digital that the fee works to prevent "companies from spamming the system and driving down wages" with cheap foreign labor, while simultaneously promoting "American businesses who actually want to bring high-skilled workers" to the U.S.
The Department of Labor could not provide details on the specifics of the 175 current investigations, which account for over $15 million in calculated back wages to workers, but reported to Fox Digital that it has uncovered a bounty of concerns.
The investigations have uncovered that some foreign workers with advanced degrees are paid far less than what's promoted in a job description, which the DOL said drives down wages for visa-holders and American workers alike, while also forcing American employees with the same qualification to accept lower wages in order to stay competitive.
Other investigations found that employers did not even notify U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services when an H-1B visa holder was terminated, or found significant lag times between a termination and an employer notifying the agency that oversees the U.S.'s immigration system.
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At the heart of other investigations, Fox News Digital learned, are documents filed by employers with the DOL in order to employ H-1B holders, as well as other visa programs, called Labor Condition Applications (LCA). Employers are required to give notice to American workers before hiring H-IB workers when filing an LCA, which is part of a larger effort to ensure American workers get first dibs on jobs, as well as accurately describe the job an employee will work and detailing the employee's wage.
Investigators found that work sites listed on the LCA documents did not exist, or that workers were unaware of the jobs they were supposedly assigned to perform as laid out in the applications. Other investigations found that employees were paid less than what was detailed in an LCA, or that employers were sloppily copying and pasting job notices for American workers that had little connection to the job described in the LCA.
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Other investigations found some employees took part in "benching," which is when H-1B visa holders are not paid anything when they are in-between active work projects, Fox Digital found.
Many tech companies have embraced the H-1B visa program, which allows U.S. companies to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations, but critics of the program say H-1B holders are often chosen over U.S. citizens for jobs. One of the reasons for this is that foreign workers are tied to their respective employers via the H-1B visa - as a company is required to sponsor the visa - and therefore quitting the job could ultimately see foreign workers losing their visa and their ability to legally remain in the country.
Justin Vianello, CEO of Skillstorm, told Fox News Digital last month that the work visa program in the United States is a "three-headed monster" that needs to be drastically reformed in order to not leave American workers behind.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration unveiled a proposal designed to nudge employers toward offering higher salaries or reserving H-1B petitions for jobs that require advanced skills. The rule change, formally published in the Federal Register, came just days after President Donald Trump signed a proclamation introducing a $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applications.
The $100,000 fee - a one-time charge applying only to new H-1B petitions - will take effect in the next annual lottery, the system the U.S. government uses to select applications once the annual visa cap is reached.
"The whole idea is no more will these Big Tech companies or other big companies train foreign workers. They have to pay the government $100,000, then they have to pay the employee, so it's just not [economical]," Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said as Trump signed the order.
