The Trump administration has initiated about 175 investigations into alleged H-1B visa abuse, targeting violations such as underpayment, fake job sites, and the “benching” of employees without pay.
According to the US Department of Labor, the investigations are part of a wider effort to safeguard American employment.
“As part of our mission to protect American Jobs, we’ve launched 175 investigations into H-1B abuse,” the Labor Department said in a post on X on Friday.
The agency added that under the leadership of President Donald Trump and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, it “will continue taking action to put American workers first.”
Chavez-DeRemer reiterated in a separate post that the department “is using every resource at our disposal to put a stop to H-1B abuse and protect American Jobs. Under the leadership of @POTUS, we’ll continue to invest in our workforce and ensure high-skilled job opportunities go to American Workers FIRST!”
The move marks a major escalation in the administration’s crackdown on misuse of the H-1B visa programme, which allows U.S. companies — particularly technology firms — to employ skilled foreign workers. Indian professionals, especially in tech and healthcare, represent one of the largest groups of H-1B visa holders.
A Fox News report said the Labor Department declined to disclose specifics of the ongoing 175 investigations, “which account for over USD 15 million in calculated back wages to workers.”
However, the department confirmed it has “uncovered a bounty of concerns,” finding that some foreign professionals with advanced degrees were paid significantly less than the wages advertised in job postings.
According to the report, the department said such practices depress pay for both visa holders and American employees, forcing U.S. workers with similar qualifications to accept lower wages to stay competitive.
The investigations also revealed that some employers failed to notify the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services when H-1B workers were terminated, with notable delays between layoffs and official reporting.
In certain cases, investigators found that listed work sites did not exist or that employees were unaware of the positions they were supposedly assigned to. “Other investigations found some employees took part in ‘benching’, which is when H-1B visa holders are not paid anything when they are in-between active work projects,” the Fox News report said.
In September, Trump issued a proclamation titled “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers” as an initial step toward reforming the H-1B visa programme. Under the proclamation, certain H-1B petitions filed after September 21, 2025, must include an additional USD 100,000 payment as a condition of eligibility.