US Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling has warned that the Trump administration is pursuing companies suspected of abusing the H-1B visa program, saying federal authorities have launched civil and criminal investigations into businesses accused of displacing American workers through foreign hiring.
In a post on X, Sonderling said the US Department of Labor (DOL), working with the White House Fraud Task Force and Vice President JD Vance , had launched investigations into companies ranging from IT outsourcing firms to major global corporations. Labor officials also announced suspensions affecting Adobe and major IT outsourcing companies. In a video accompanying his remarks, the labor secretary accused some employers of requiring American employees to train their foreign replacements before leaving their jobs, arguing that such practices ran counter to President Donald Trump’s pledge to prioritize US workers. The investigations come as the Trump administration steps up scrutiny of employers using foreign-worker programs.
On October 8, Vance announced that Microsoft would be suspended from the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) program amid an investigation into its hiring practices.
“If you abuse the H-1B visa program, you will be held accountable,” Sonderling said. “We’ve started civil and criminal investigations against the companies that have been enabling this behavior for a very long time,” Sonderling said. Sonderling said some American employees had been required to train foreign workers taking over their positions, including during outsourcing-related job transitions. “Sometimes our workers actually have to go through the indignity of training their replacements,” he said.
