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‘We’re going after them all’: US Labor secretary alleges H-1B abuse as Trump govt launches company probes
The Labor Department, working with the White House Fraud Task Force, is investigating companies accused of displacing American workers.
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US Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling has warned that the Trump administration is pursuing companies suspected of abusing the H-1B visa program, saying federal authorities have launched civil and criminal investigations into businesses accused of displacing American workers through foreign hiring.
In a post on X, Sonderling said the US Department of Labor (DOL), working with the White House Fraud Task Force and Vice President JD Vance, had launched investigations into companies ranging from IT outsourcing firms to major global corporations.
“If you abuse the H-1B visa program, you will be held accountable,” Sonderling said.
In a video accompanying his remarks, the labor secretary accused some employers of requiring American employees to train their foreign replacements before leaving their jobs, arguing that such practices ran counter to President Donald Trump's pledge to prioritize US workers.
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“We've started civil and criminal investigations against the companies that have been enabling this behavior for a very long time,” Sonderling said.
‘American workers have to train their replacements’
Sonderling said some American employees had been required to train foreign workers taking over their positions, including during outsourcing-related job transitions.
“Sometimes our workers actually have to go through the indignity of training their replacements,” he said.
He alleged that some companies had misrepresented workers' qualifications and skills to secure immigration benefits, potentially disadvantaging Americans qualified for the same positions.
“We're going after them all, because we want them to hire American,” Sonderling said, referring to large IT outsourcing businesses and major corporations.
The secretary also said the Labor Department was working to ensure American workers had access to jobs and the skills needed to compete for them. The allegations have not, by themselves, established that the companies under scrutiny committed fraud or violated the law.
Microsoft, Adobe and IT firms face green card restrictions
The investigations come as the Trump administration steps up scrutiny of employers using foreign-worker programs. On October 8, Vance announced that Microsoft would be suspended from the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) program amid an investigation into its hiring practices. Labor officials also announced suspensions affecting Adobe and major IT outsourcing companies.
PERM is a labor certification process used in many employment-based green card applications. The suspensions restrict affected companies' ability to pursue permanent residency sponsorship through this route; they do not amount to a blanket ban on employing H-1B visa holders.
