As US President Donald Trump continues his overhaul of the H-1B work visa program, which brings high-skilled foreign professionals to the United States, his administration again warned against what it has long described as “visa abuse.” Harmeet Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), spoke out against American tech companies that fail to post job vacancies on their “normal hiring channels” and hire “cheap foreign labour” to displace American workers.
She flashed the sudden warning on her official X account while claiming to tackle “dozens of other time-sensitive matters.” The new post surfaced just days after a technology job posting with the description “Need H1b” went viral online and caught the attention of the top Indian-origin Trump administration official on social media. The hiring call appeared to specifically seek an H-1B visa holder for an onsite long-term contract position in Massachusetts, potentially prioritising foreign visa holders over American workers.
Since Trump returned to office in 2025, the US Justice Department has intensified its scrutiny on employers, asserting that job advertisements targeting visa preferences and constituting employment discrimination against American citizens will not be tolerated.
Trump admin’s latest warnings against ‘visa abuse’
Harmeet Dhillon shared a breathless message on X Thursday (US time), stating:
“Our federal (and most state) employment laws mandate a level playing field for American workers vis-à-vis foreigners — yet many American tech (and other) companies prefer to hire cheaper/exploitable foreign workers to do routine jobs Americans could do, and they do this by failing to post jobs on their normal hiring channels (PERM violations), letting foreign-born hiring managers pipeline cheap foreign labor from body-shop mills over American workers (H1-B abuses), lie about their eligibility for no-cap H1-B hiring, abuse other visa categories such as J-1 visas (we see you, universities!), abuse OPT hiring to get cheap, exploitable foreign labor, and sometimes — getting super arrogant, gaslight laid-off and sidelined Americans while doing any of the above.”
Flagging all of these as bad hiring practices, she said they don’t constitute patriotic or economic practices either. The Trump administration official asserted that the Republican leader’s government won’t allow employers in the US to discriminate against American workers. In addition to reiterating its “illegality,” Dhillon stressed that it is bad for the economy.
I have been busy with dozens of other time-sensitive matters, but I wanted to comment on this.
Our federal (and most state) employment laws mandate a level playing field for American workers vis-à-vis foreigners — yet many American tech (and other) companies prefer to hire… pic.twitter.com/5EYqXUU4wd— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) August 28, 2026
The lengthy criticism voiced by the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) came in response to Indian-origin entrepreneur and Y Combinator partner Ankit Gupta expressing his support for “woke DEI” (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). Gupta, in turn, was reacting to US Vice President JD Vance’s tweet from a few days ago, where he defended the Trump admin’s proposal of a new and raised H-1B fee of $103,265, saying that American corporations should hire and train Americans when in need of workers.
In a follow-up comment, Harmeet Dhillon clarified that her message against bad hiring and visa practices was not solely aimed at Y Combinator or Gupta.
“This problem permeates American industry & academia, and it’s a bipartisan scandal,” she added on X. “The biggest violators are our biggest public tech companies—I know, because I worked in Silicon Valley as a tech lawyer for decades.”
Trump admin reviews ‘Need H1b’ hiring post
Earlier this week, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed that her department was reviewing the Massachusetts tech job hiring post for solely appealing to visa workers. Dhillon has repeatedly noted such posts flagged by the ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) camp on social media, adding to what the administration has described as instances of American employers engaging in alleged national origin discrimination.
After Dhillon confirmed that the Justice Department was investigating the issue alongside the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Department of Labor, the DOJ also told Newsweek that a formal probe had, in fact, been launched into the job ad demanding H-1B workers only.
“We will be reviewing this as a part of the Civil Rights Division’s Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative,” the spokesperson told the news outlet.
Trump’s H-1B overhaul has stepped up
Despite facing legal setbacks after announcing an initial $100,000 fee on H-1B applications in a September 2025 proclamation, Donald Trump’s second-term cabinet has shown no signs of giving up on the issue. With the administration having long contested that certain US employers engage in “visa fraud” or “visa abuse” by prioritising visa workers over American workers, the Department of Homeland Security pushed a new proposal to impose an additional $103, 265 fee on certain H-1B petitions.
In addition to the major move made earlier this week, the Trump admin has already shut down the H-1B lottery and replaced it with a wage-weighted selection process, giving precedence to higher-skilled and higher-paid professionals.
Earlier this month, the DHS also advanced a proposal to eliminate the 60-day grace period that allows H-1B visa holders to remain in the US after experiencing job losses. The work visa program was already facing expanded screening and vetting processes, with applicants and their H-4 Dependents told last year to set their social media profiles to “public.”
Certain companies have also had to pay settlements worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for favouring H-1B applicants in the past. The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division announced in the first week of August that it had secured a settlement of $3,200,000 with OpenAI OpCo LLC and its subsidiary Statsig Inc. (together, OpenAI) upon addressing allegations that both companies violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by discriminating against US workers and preferring workers with temporary work visas during the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) process.
LanceSoft Inc, Elegant Enterprise-Wide Solutions, Compunnel Software Group Inc and several other IT or professional services companies have reached similar settlements with the DOJ.
We are reviewing this and countless other examples of American employers engaging in alleged national origin discrimination. And we will stop it, together with colleagues @USEEOC @USDOL ! 🤨🇺🇸 https://t.co/rCZwBNG8QS— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) August 26, 2026
Disclaimer: This article is intended for informational purposes only and is based on publicly available immigration guidance. Rules and deadlines are subject to change; readers should verify current requirements directly with USCIS or consult a qualified immigration attorney before making decisions based on this information. Financial Express is not responsible for any decisions made based on this information.