US federal, immigration agencies join hands to investigate potential H-1B abuse

The United States' labor and homeland security departments and the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have signed a Memorandum of Association (MOA) to scruitinise frauds in H-1B applications.

In a statement on July 31, the US Department of Labor (DOL) said the memorandum allows the departments to share and access information about immigrant and non-immigrant petition records.

"(This is) a source of information never previously accessed by the department for enforcement purposes," DOL said. However, this gives the department power to initiate investigations against potential violators of the highly skilled temporary worker visa, H-1B. USCIS will refer the suspected violators to the labour department.

This is the authority no previous labour secretary has ever exercised under the US immigration and nationality act. “This allows for more robust examinations of employers’ use of H-1B workers,” the statement added.

This is just another step the Trump administration has taken to increase the scrutiny of the guest worker visa programme to protect American jobs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The proclamation signed on June 22 banned the entry of highly skilled immigrant workers such as H-1B and L-1 till the end of the year.

“The MOA signed today will be central to the Department’s work carrying out the President’s policy of ensuring that the use of foreign labor does not harm American workers,” the statement said.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, President Trump has taken steps to ensure that American workers are well positioned to return to work as jobs come back online,” said Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia in the statement.

“The agreement signed today protects American workers by giving the Department of Labor an important new ability to launch investigations of potential fraud and abuse in the H-1B visa system,” Scalia added.

Indians and Indian IT services are the largest beneficiaries of the H-1B visa. Of the 85,000 H-1B visas issued every year, Indians account for more than 60 percent. Since the Trump administration took over in 2017, the rate of visa denial increased and firms stepped up their localisation. While these moves will further decrease their visa dependence, it might not improve American jobs. A recent research report said that it would increase offshoring to countries like India, which will affect the US economy and pace of innovation.