The US Department of Labor on Friday launched Project Firewall, an H-1B enforcement initiative aimed at protecting the rights, wages, and job opportunities of highly skilled workers. The project aims to ensure employers give priority to qualified applicants when hiring and hold them accountable if they misuse the H-1B visa process. The announcement came soon after President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring a $100,000 fee for all H-1B visa applications.
“The Trump Administration is standing by our commitment to end practices that leave Americans in the dust. As we reestablish economic dominance, we must protect our most valuable resource: the American worker. Launching Project Firewall will help us ensure no employers are abusing H-1B visas at the expense of our workforce,” US Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer said, adding, “By rooting out fraud and abuse, the Department of Labor and our federal partners will ensure that highly skilled jobs go to Americans first.”
What Is Project Firewall?
“The days of employers abusing H-1B Visas are over. Introducing PROJECT FIREWALL—our plan to ensure high-skilled jobs go to AMERICANS FIRST,” the Department of Labor said on an X post.
The key highlights of Project Firewall are as follows:
Project Firewall aims to safeguard the rights, wages, and job opportunities of highly skilled American workers by ensuring employers prioritise qualified Americans when hiring workers. The Department of Labor says the initiative will hold employers accountable if they abuse the H-1B process.
Under Project Firewall, the department will investigate employers to ensure H-1B program compliance, as authorised by federal law. For the first time, the Secretary of Labor will personally approve the initiation of these investigations. This step uses the Secretary’s existing authority whenever there is reasonable cause to believe an H-1B employer is not complying.
Project Firewall will rely on key tools such as secretary-certified investigations and other H-1B-related probes to hold employers accountable. Any violations could result in recovering back wages for affected workers, imposing civil money penalties, and/or barring employers from using the H-1B program for a set period.
As permitted by law, the department will also share information and coordinate with relevant government agencies, to fight discrimination and make sure the H-1B program is properly enforced, using the full authority of the federal government.
Within the department, the Office of Immigration Policy, Employment and Training Administration, and Wage and Hour Division will lead Project Firewall in collaboration with federal partners, including the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
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