The department said it ‘uncovered widespread schemes in which employers and labor brokers submitted fraudulent applications’ for the visas.
By Catholics for Catholics
As part of a broad effort targeting federal and immigration entitlement fraud, the Department of Labor and Inspector General’s office launched a “major investigation” into alleged scams in the H-1B visa system, along with a probe into human trafficking.
On Wednesday, the Department of Labor and its Inspector General’s office said the anti-fraud attempt would also include investigations into human trafficking in the H-1B visa and Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) systems used by companies to employ non-U.S. citizen workers, according to a story by the Epoch Times.
In a statement, the Labor Department and inspector general said that they have “uncovered widespread schemes in which employers and labor brokers submitted fraudulent applications, exploited foreign workers through coercive wage-kickback arrangements, and undercut American workers by flooding the market with below-wage labor.”
The statement added that the schemes serve to degrade labor programs used by the federal government meant to address labor shortages across the United States rather than provide funds to “bad actors at the expense of American jobs.”
🚨PRESS RELEASE: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General Launches Investigation into H-1B Visa Fraud and Human Trafficking to Protect American Workers
— DOL OIG (@DOLOIG) July 8, 2026
Read:⤵️https://t.co/uBG4GjU1up pic.twitter.com/naWt7h3AP3
As part of the investigation, the Department of Labor said that American workers should report any instances where they suspect they’ve been harmed or displaced by possible PERM or H-1B fraud or “related industry practices” and called on foreign workers who suspect they have been coerced, exploited, or were victims of fraudulent recruitment measures to also report their concerns.
Anthony D’Esposito, the Department of Labor Inspector General said in an interview with Fox Business on Wednesday that investigators had begun sending “dozens of subpoenas” as part of the new probe, though he did not provide any details.
“This is another example where fraud is fueling violent crime,” he told the news outlet.
“Much of the visa and the human trafficking that we see when it comes to this foreign labor is tied to cartels, is tied to transnational gangs, and this is the work that we should be doing, not only to make America safe again, but to make America more affordable again.”
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