New Visa Regulations by DHS Impacting Temporary Workers
New guidelines from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are now requiring employers seeking to renew the visas of their temporary foreign workers to provide fresh justifications for not hiring qualified American applicants.
The recent rule modification has discontinued previous deference rules, which mandated that agency evaluators could rely on older corporate justifications for employing foreign workers. This change is likely to lead to a higher number of rejections for visa requests, particularly for H-1B and J-1 visa categories that are under scrutiny due to Vice-President JD Vance’s campaign against perceived fraud.
According to the DHS, the abandonment of deference is intended to improve the integrity of the visa program and better safeguard the interests of American workers in alignment with the administration’s overall objectives.
Vice-President Vance emphasized these goals on October 8, suggesting that the existing system allows for the exploitation of foreign workers at the expense of American workers, criticizing a system that reportedly enriches corporations while undermining local employment.
His growing disapproval of such visa programs is gaining traction among the public, even though mainstream media coverage has been minimal. In 2024 alone, the DHS processed nearly 600,000 applications—both new and renewals—under the “Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker.”
Interestingly, this lengthy application doesn’t require proof that companies have made attempts to hire American workers before seeking foreign labor. An immigration attorney, John Miano, pointed out the lack of such evidence requests.
Miano also mentioned that a significant aspect will be the enforcement of these new rules; however, he expressed doubts that they would create real change for corporations’ hiring practices.
The current high visa numbers stem from the extensive and heavily supported visa programs that allow U.S. employers to employ about 2.5 million foreign graduates—including around 1 million H-1B visa holders and their families. These skilled migrants often secure good jobs through practices that may, in part, favor foreign workers over American graduates.
The deference rules have had a long history—initially set by President George Bush in 2004, revoked by President Trump in 2017, and reinstated by President Biden in 2021. Now, their removal could potentially unveil fraud, with reports indicating significant levels of non-compliance among H-1B and L-1A visa holders.
While the visa programs enjoy legal backing and support from business organizations, Trump-era officials are attempting to introduce various limitations. For instance, they are seeking to reduce opportunities for international students to remain in the U.S. and imposing hefty fees on universities that sponsor foreign students for work permits.
Corporate lawyers have, thus far, largely succeeded in blocking many of Trump’s proposed reforms through friendly rulings in lower courts. On the other hand, advocates for increased business migration have voiced concerns over these restrictions, warning that they could lead to increased requests for documentation and a higher chance of application denials, thus complicating workforce management for employers.
Meanwhile, a growing number of CEOs and investors have recognized widespread fraud in the visa programs. The CEO of a tech firm has openly admitted that a significant portion of his industry’s growth was derived from manipulating the U.S. visa system to introduce Indian IT professionals into U.S. companies at lower costs. He criticized the notion that a visa program designed for attracting talent has become a loophole for affordable labor.
