The H-1B visa program is under renewed scrutiny as Rep. Riley Moore and a Labor Department official raise concerns about fraud, job displacement, and exploitation of foreign workers.
The H-1B visa program is facing intensified political scrutiny following sharp criticisms from Rep. Riley Moore. The West Virginia Republican has voiced concerns over the employment-based visa system, alleging that it contributes to job displacement and is susceptible to fraud. His remarks coincide with claims from a senior official at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General, who stated that fraudulent activities related to work visas are fueling criminal enterprises and costing American jobs.
Moore’s comments come amid a backdrop of recent layoffs in the technology sector, including significant job cuts at Microsoft, which have been linked by some anti-immigration activists to the hiring of H-1B workers. Social media influencers have also targeted Indian executives and H-1B professionals, accusing companies of replacing American workers with lower-paid foreign labor.
In a recent interview, Moore described the H-1B program as “an absolute disaster” for American workers across various sectors. “The H-1B visa program is a disaster. It’s an absolute disaster for white-collar, blue-collar, any American worker out here,” he stated emphatically.
Moore argued that the program has expanded beyond its original intent of addressing specialized labor shortages. “There are hundreds of thousands of these H-1B visas, and many times these are the types of jobs that you’re sending your kids to college for, your kids to trade school for,” he added.
Furthermore, Moore expressed his belief that legal employment-based immigration poses a greater threat to American workers than illegal immigration in certain sectors. “I think in many aspects it is actually worse than the illegal immigration problem that we have as it relates to work in this country,” he remarked.
Moore specifically pointed to Microsoft’s recent restructuring of its Xbox division as a prime example of corporate misuse of employment visas. “You go look at Microsoft right now. Xbox just laid off 3,200 U.S. workers and then turned around and applied for thousands of H-1B visas to import people from India to do those jobs for pennies on the dollar,” he said.
While Microsoft has not confirmed any connection between the layoffs and its H-1B hiring practices, the company continues to file H-1B petitions annually for specialized engineering and software roles, even as it restructures parts of its workforce.
Moore also criticized the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, particularly the STEM OPT extension, which allows many international graduates to work in the United States after completing their degrees. “We’re bringing in foreign workers and training them… and then replacing our own kids… most of them workers from India. It doesn’t make sense to me,” he stated.
In a separate development, Anthony D’Esposito, the ninth Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Labor, announced that his office is investigating allegations of fraud related to the H-1B and PERM employment-based visa programs. In an interview with BlazeTV, D’Esposito claimed that some foreign workers are being exploited by criminal organizations. “There is no question… we have people who are being brought into the United States of America to work under these visas so that they can kick back money and parts of their wages to criminal enterprises,” he asserted.
D’Esposito further alleged that visa fraud is contributing to organized crime. “Not only are they taking American jobs away, not only are they putting American people out of work, but they’re actually taking the wages of the American dollar and sending it back to criminal enterprises,” he said.
His office has begun issuing subpoenas as part of what he described as an expansive investigation into H-1B visas and the PERM program. “We started issuing subpoenas because my office has the ability to issue subpoenas, and we are going to conduct a thorough expansive investigation with the help of the White House Task Force into these H-1B visas and PERM,” he explained.
The H-1B visa program allows U.S. employers to hire foreign professionals in specialty occupations that require specialized knowledge, with technology companies submitting a significant number of annual petitions. Indian nationals consistently receive the majority of approved H-1B visas.
Supporters of the program argue that it helps companies fill shortages in highly skilled occupations and fosters American innovation. Critics contend that some employers exploit the program to reduce labor costs or replace qualified U.S. workers.
Moore and D’Esposito’s recent comments reflect a growing Republican scrutiny of employment-based immigration, particularly as the Trump administration continues to tighten oversight of legal immigration programs. Immigration advocates caution that allegations of fraud should be investigated on a case-by-case basis and should not be used to broadly characterize H-1B workers, the majority of whom comply with U.S. immigration and labor laws.
The Department of Labor has yet to release findings from the reported investigation, and no evidence has been publicly presented to substantiate broader claims that H-1B wages are systematically funding criminal enterprises, according to The American Bazaar.