DOL’s Project Firewall Expands H-1B Scrutiny for Employers

The Labor Department says Project Firewall has produced nearly 200 investigations into companies suspected of abusing the H-1B visa program, turning an initiative announced in September 2025 into an active enforcement program for employers.

The figure appears in the department’s 2025 accomplishments report and represents investigations launched by the agency—not findings that the companies violated the law. The development matters to employers, recruiters, H-1B workers and U.S. job applicants because federal agencies are increasingly comparing visa filings, workplace records, recruiting practices and actual job duties.

What changed

Project Firewall launched on September 19, 2025. Bloomberg Law reported on April 7, 2026, that a Labor Department official described a 48% increase in the agency’s H-1B investigative caseload since the initiative began.

Bloomberg Law also reported that immigration attorneys representing employers have seen more site visits and broader, more data-driven information requests. The attorneys said inquiries that begin with one worker can expand to payroll and immigration records involving other employees. Those accounts describe reported enforcement activity and compliance concerns, not a new rule making ordinary H-1B hiring unlawful.

The H-1B program remains available to employers that meet its requirements. Project Firewall is an enforcement initiative, not a new H-1B statute.

What DOL is examining

Labor Department materials identify priorities that include possible failures to recruit U.S. workers in good faith, preference for temporary visa holders, retaliation against workers who raise concerns, and inaccurate descriptions of job duties, requirements or working conditions.

The department’s H-1B labor-condition framework also covers wage and workplace obligations. During an investigation, an employer may need to reconcile labor-condition applications, H-1B petitions, public-access files, payroll records, recruitment documentation, job descriptions, work locations and the duties workers actually perform.

Bloomberg Law reported that officials have asked detailed questions about qualifications, job requirements and workplace duties, with answers compared against information in earlier filings. A mismatch can prompt additional questions, but it does not automatically establish a violation or guarantee a penalty.

Potential consequences

Depending on the facts and the applicable proceedings, DOL enforcement may involve back wages, civil penalties and possible debarment from the H-1B program for at least one year. These are potential remedies, not the outcome of every investigation.

Employers should distinguish DOL’s wage-and-hour and H-1B compliance work from the Justice Department’s separate enforcement of citizenship-status discrimination rules. The two areas can overlap in practice when recruiting language suggests that a position is reserved for H-1B workers.

Why job advertisements matter

On July 7, 2026, the Justice Department’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section finalized a settlement agreement with Creative Team, LLC, a Texas-based consulting company. DOJ said the agreement resolved its determination that the company engaged in citizenship-status discrimination in hiring and recruitment after posting a job advertisement restricting positions to H-1B visa holders without legal justification.

The agreement required Creative Team to pay $4,730 in civil penalties, train employees and stop using employment-advertisement restrictions that unlawfully exclude protected workers. The case illustrates a separate compliance risk under the Immigration and Nationality Act: job advertisements that limit hiring to H-1B workers without a documented legal basis can draw DOJ scrutiny.

A practical compliance check

Compare current job descriptions and actual duties with H-1B petitions and labor-condition applications.
Keep public-access files, payroll records, wage documentation and recruitment records complete and consistent.
Review job advertisements and recruiter instructions for language limiting hiring to H-1B workers without a documented legal justification.
Give managers a clear process for responding to agency inquiries, and avoid casual answers that conflict with filed records.
Coordinate HR, recruiting, managers and immigration counsel before changing job duties, work locations or wage arrangements.

Employers should watch for additional DOL investigations, DOJ settlements, interagency information-sharing and any future H-1B wage changes. An investigation or settlement involving an employer does not, by itself, establish wrongdoing by every H-1B worker or invalidate every visa petition.

Sources

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