US Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta directed the US Department of Labor to “enforce vigorously” all laws within its jurisdiction governing the administration and enforcement of nonimmigrant visa programs, which include H-1B visas for highly skilled temporary workers.

The move aims to include increases in civil investigations and criminal referrals, Reuters reported.

“Entities who engage in visa program fraud and abuse are breaking our laws and are harming American workers, negatively affecting Americans’ ability to provide for themselves and their families,” Acosta said. “We will enforce vigorously those laws, including heightened use of criminal referrals.”

The labor secretary’s actions include:

• Directing the department’s Wage and Hour Division to use all its tools in conducting civil investigations to enforce labor protections provided by the visa programs.
• Directing the department’s Employment and Training Administration to develop proposed changes to the Labor Condition Application, and for the division to review its investigatory forms, to better identify systematic violations and potential fraud, and provide greater transparency for agency personnel, US workers and the general public. 
• Directing the division, the Employment Training Administration and the Office of the Solicitor to coordinate the administration and enforcement activities of the visa programs and make referrals of criminal fraud to the Office of the Inspector General.
• Establishing a working group made up of senior leadership from Employment Training Administration, the division and Solicitor’s office to supervise this effort and coordinate enforcement to avoid duplication of efforts and maximize the efficiency of the department’s activities regarding the visa programs. The working group shall invite the Office of the Inspector General to send representatives to participate in its efforts.

The department will also continue to work with the departments of Justice and Homeland Security to further investigate and detect visa program fraud and abuse.

The announcement is the latest move to reform visa programs. President Donald Trump in April signed a “Buy American and Hire American” executive order, calling for strict enforcement of all laws governing entry into the US of labor from abroad. It called for the Department of Homeland Security to review the way H-1Bs are rewarded and to submit a list of administrative and legislative reforms to curb abuse in the H-1B system.

“While we certainly support the enforcement of existing immigration laws, we are deeply concerned about the administration’s use of the levers of power to circumvent the legislative and rulemaking process in its effort to restrict lawful immigration,” said TechServe Alliance CEO Mark Roberts.

“The country is currently facing a shortage of IT and engineering workers,” he said. “Foreign talent is critical to keeping work in the United States.”