On June 6, 2017 US Secretary of Labor,Alexander Acosta, announced new Department of Labor (DOL) actions to enforcework visa programs.  This announcementwas made in support of President Trump’s Executive Orderon Buy American and Hire American.

The Secretary’s actions areoutlined in a newsrelease issued by the DOL. Secretary Acosta has determined it is the policyof the DOL to vigorously and actively enforce laws governing visaprograms.  The DOL actions forenforcement include:

  • The DOL Wage and Hour Division will conduct more civilinvestigations and site visits.
  • The DOL Employment and Training Administration willdevelop and propose changes to the LCA (Labor Condition Application) as well asother forms to better identify violations and fraud.  Among other things,the DOL will be looking at how to better monitor LCA filings for violations andprevent fraud with regard to the:
    • exemptions for H-1B dependent employers where the employeehas a master’s degree or greater or makes $60,000/year or more;
    • the rate of pay listed on the LCA; and
    • the worksite location(s) listed on the LCA.
  • The DOL will actively coordinatewith and refer cases to the Inspector General and Attorney General in cases of criminal fraud,which is outside the DOL’s jurisdiction.
  • There will be additional trainingof DOL Officers to detect civil and criminal fraud.
  • The DOL will continue to work withthe US Department of Justice and US Department of Homeland Security toinvestigate, detect, and prevent fraud in all visa programs.

The DOL Office of the InspectorGeneral has posted some recent cases on its website.