A senior Justice Department official has signaled that the Trump administration is stepping up scrutiny of employers accused of bypassing qualified American workers in favor of foreign labor, with potential enforcement attention extending across the H-1B, Optional Practical Training (OPT), PERM and J-1 visa programs.
Harmeet K. The comments come as the Trump administration continues to take a harder line on employment-based immigration and the use of foreign workers.
Dhillon, the assistant attorney general leading the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a post on X that federal employment laws require a “level playing field” for American workers and foreign nationals. She said the administration would not allow employers to discriminate against US workers and indicated that the Justice Department was working with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Labor on the issue. In her post, Dhillon listed several practices that she said could violate US labor and employment laws. The assistant attorney general said the Justice Department, EEOC and Labor Department were “all on the case” and working together to level the playing field for US workers. Dhillon said companies that sideline or reject American workers while using foreign labor programs could face consequences if their practices violate the law.
