Over 30 North Texas businesses are under fire for suspected fraud tied to the controversial H-1B visa program. Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into the program which uncovered disturbing schemes.
The investigation has also led to Representative Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) calling on the Trump administration to launch federal investigations of the businesses. Rep. Van Dyne joined with Reps. Brandon Gill, Ronny Jackson, and Pat Fallon to issue the request, comparing H-1B fraud to the notorious Minnesota Somali daycare fraud.
Paxton’s investigation revealed evidence of firms using websites to advertise services that they did not provide, and listing vacant homes or unfinished buildings as business addresses. These are known as “ghost offices”.
Companies set up these ghost offices in order to create the appearance of a legitimate business need for H-1Bs. The fake businesses allow the companies to convince the government that they meet the requirements for obtaining H-1Bs, and the companies get to bring in cheap foreign labor that would otherwise be prohibited.
H-1B visas are intended only for specialty positions where employers cannot find American citizens to hire. They have, however, become an easy way for companies to replace American workers with cheap foreign labor. Foreign workers require and ask for much lower wages than Americans.
This, paired with a visa worker’s total dependence on their employer (if visa hires lose their job, they lose their legal status in the United States as well) makes H-1Bs a tantalizing investment for corporate executives looking to boost their own salaries while cutting costs overall. H-1B visa workers are not only paid far less than Americans in the same positions, they are often the target of leverage and retaliation due to their need to keep employers happy.
While H-1Bs are profitable to corporations, they demolish the American job market and limit opportunities for countless Americans who need the jobs that corporations would rather hire non-Americans for. If Ken Paxton’s investigation finds that Texas companies are committing fraud to gain H-1B workers, the hammer of the law must be brought down upon them. It is wrong for corporations to harm American workers and the national interest by importing foreign labor under conditions that resemble modern-day indentured servitude.
The H-1B visa program was never intended to be more than a rarely used tool for exotic and specialized positions. The excessive misuse and fraud of this program is killing the American Dream, and Texans for Strong Borders calls for ending the H-1B program as well as passing other measures to protect our workers from foreign competition.