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‘You laid off 5,000 Americans’: JD Vance signals tougher H-1B scrutiny for companies seeking foreign workers
JD Vance announces increased oversight of the H-1B visa program, criticizing companies that lay off US workers and then seek foreign labor.
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US Vice President JD Vance has signaled tougher scrutiny of companies seeking H-1B workers after laying off American employees, as the Trump administration moves to reshape the visa program through executive action and tighter enforcement.
Vance said the administration is examining ways to prevent companies from claiming they face worker shortages while simultaneously cutting their US workforce. He cited a hypothetical company that says it is “desperate for workers” but has previously laid off thousands of Americans.
“You’ll have a company that applies for an H-1B and they’ll say, ‘Oh, we’re desperate for workers. We can’t find the workers.’ And then you go and look at their history and they’ve laid off 5,000 people. Well, that’s ridiculous,” Vance said.
“If you’re laying off American workers, you shouldn’t be going to the market searching for foreign workers to replace them,” he added.
Trump administration puts layoffs under H-1B scrutiny
Vance’s comments come after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on September 18 directing federal agencies to consider employer layoffs when reviewing H-1B petitions.
The order instructs the Departments of Labor, Homeland Security and State to consider whether an employer has laid off, or plans to lay off, similarly situated US workers when administering the H-1B program. The measure is part of a broader effort by the administration to increase oversight of employers sponsoring foreign workers.
The order also directs the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division to review information from previously filed labor condition applications and determine whether additional enforcement action may be appropriate.
Vance said the administration is pursuing administrative changes because he does not expect Congress to overhaul the H-1B system through legislation.
H-1B should be for high-skilled talent
Vance framed the administration’s broader approach as an attempt to ensure that H-1B visas are reserved for workers who make a significant contribution to the US economy.
“We looked at the fraud in the system,” he said, explaining why the administration chose to pursue administrative changes rather than wait for Congress to rewrite the law.
He said the government wants companies seeking H-1B workers to demonstrate that they are hiring people who can “significantly enrich the tech ecosystem or the American economy”.
He contrasted that with a hypothetical situation in which an American accountant earning $60,000 is replaced by a foreign accountant earning $45,000.
“That is not what the program exists for,” he said.
$100,000 H-1B payment remains in place
The administration’s approach also includes a $100,000 payment requirement for covered H-1B petitions involving workers outside the US. Trump extended the restriction in September 2026 through September 21, 2027, while retaining a national-interest exception.
He said the administration wants H-1B visas to be used for workers who can make a significant contribution to the US economy, rather than to replace American employees with lower-paid foreign workers.
“The H-1B should not exist to replace American workers with low wage foreigners,” Vance said. “It should exist to enrich the American economy.”
He also acknowledged that the administration is operating within legal limits and that some of its H-1B measures have already faced lawsuits.
