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    ‘To Protect The American Worker’: Project Firewall To Check US Employers For H1-B Compliance

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    By News18,Oindrila Mukherjee

    Copyright news18

    'To Protect The American Worker': Project Firewall To Check US Employers For H1-B Compliance

    Employers in the United States will be under heavy scrutiny for compliance as the Trump administration launched an H1-B “enforcement initiative”, which claims to “protect” American workers.
    As new H1-B visa policy rules come into effect for immigrant workers, the US Department of Labour said it is launching Project Firewall so that employers “prioritise” skilled American workers and are held accountable if they “abuse the H-1B visa process”.
    The department said the initiative is aimed to “protect American jobs through federal agency partnerships”, as per an official press release dated September 19. It said it will “safeguard the rights, wages, and job opportunities” of highly skilled American workers.
    “The Trump administration is standing by our commitment to end practices that leave Americans in the dust. As we reestablish economic dominance, we must protect our most valuable resource: the American worker. Launching Project Firewall will help us ensure no employers are abusing H-1B visas at the expense of our workforce,” said US Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer. “By rooting out fraud and abuse, the Department of Labor and our federal partners will ensure that highly skilled jobs go to Americans first.”
    The department said its wage and hour division will offer “multiple H1-B compliance assistance resources to help employers follow the law”.
    “Employers and workers can contact the division with questions at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE (487-9243),” it said.
    WHAT HAPPENS UNDER PROJECT FIREWALL?
    Here’s what will happen:

    The press release stated that employers will undergo investigations “as authorised by federal law” to “maximise H-1B programme compliance”.
    It said the Secretary of Labor will “personally certify” the investigations for the “first time in the department’s history”. “This historic action leverages existing authority granted to the secretary if reasonable cause exists that an H-1B employer [is] not in compliance,” it added.
    Secretary-certified investigations, as well as other H-1B-related investigations, are important tools the department will use in Project Firewall to hold employers accountable and protect the rights of American workers, the press release said.
    As a penalty for violations, employers may have to collect back wages owed to affected workers, the assessment of civil money penalties, and/or debarment from future use of the H-1B programme for a prescribed period of time, it said.
    The department said it will share information and coordinate with relevant government agencies, as permitted by law, to combat discrimination against American workers and ensure the law is properly enforced.

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