Amid increased scrutiny of H-1B visa program in the US, a new job posting on LinkedIn by one Prasad DP has reached Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K Dhillon who called it illegal and vowed action against it. “This is not legal. We will look into this @CivilRights,” Dhillon said, reacting to the post, which only wanted H-1B candidates. This is not the first time that the Indian-origin Trump official warned about such job postings. Earlier, she spoke against LanceSoft, an IT staffing firm, which invited applications from only H-1B visa holders and strictly barred US citizens from applying. Dhillon at that time said a team of the Civil Rights Division has been working with agencies and the White House on such cases and the department was hiring staff, including lawyers, to crack a whip on such cases.
In the latest case, a look into Prasad DP’s LinkedIn profile revealed that the person, based out of South Carolina, is a business development manager at an IT firm, which was hiring for its client New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, which is a state government office in Albany, New York.
Are all ‘H-1B only’ job advertisements illegal?
H-1B only job advertisements are common for IT consulting firms, also known as body shops, that hire and supply staff to their clients.
The roles are mostly short term, contract based and those who are already in the US on H-1B visas are preferred for these roles. They can be considered illegal if they discriminate against US citizens.
The H-1B visa program that allows companies to hire skilled professionals from foreign countries has come under fire under the Trump administration as MAGA strengthened their demand that US jobs should not go to Indians or Chinese. While the Trump administration imposed a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa hirings for the companies, states like Florida and Texas froze H-1B hiring in specific state agencies and higher education institutes.
