Harris Beach Murtha’s Immigration Practice Group leader recently spoke with Bloomberg Law about the Trump administration’s plans to scrutinize businesses hiring H-1B workers after conducting recent layoffs.

President Trump recently issued an executive order entitled “Enhancing Program Integrity Coordination in the Administration of the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Program,” that outlined perceived abuse of the program, alleging employers lay off higher-paid U.S.-born workers to hire foreign workers for lower salaries. The executive order promised more agencies scrutinizing the use of H-1B visas, and that they would review previously submitted labor condition applications, forms attesting that adding H-1B employees won’t harm U.S. workers.

“The order directs new coordination by the departments of Homeland Security, Labor, and State to weigh job cuts when reviewing filings by employers,” the article noted.

L.J. D’Arrigo, leader of the firm’s Immigration Practice Group, told Bloomberg Law increased scrutiny could lead to other consequences for businesses using the H-1B program. He expects the reviews to examine heavy use of entry-level wages, employee work sites that don’t match paperwork and large volumes of filings by companies with a model of placing workers at third-party firms – all things that could trigger more expansive investigations.

“An investigation rarely stays confined to the LCA that triggered it,” he said.

Read the full article for more details. (Subscription may be required.)