(UNITED STATES) — The U.S. Department of Labor launched Project Firewall on September 19, 2025, and drove a 48% surge in federal H-1B visa investigations by shifting from complaint-based enforcement to proactive probes certified personally by the DOL Secretary using data analytics and AI tools.

The initiative marks a sharper approach to policing employers that use the H-1B visa program. It targets wage violations, failures to recruit U.S. workers in good faith, misrepresentation of job responsibilities, failures to notify the government of terminations, nonexistent work sites on filings, and “benching” during unassigned periods.

By November 2025, the Department of Labor reported at least 175 ongoing investigations and assessed $15 million in back wages. By late 2025, roughly 200 investigations were underway.

Project Firewall changes how the government builds cases. Instead of relying mainly on complaints from workers, the Department of Labor now generates cases proactively and has the DOL Secretary certify them personally.

That shift reaches into parts of the H-1B visa system that often remained outside complaint-driven enforcement. The program now uses data analytics and AI tools to identify patterns for investigation.

The move also broadens how investigators examine employers once a case starts. Site visits no longer stay confined to a single petition in every instance, but can expand to full workforce audits that check payroll, records, hiring practices, job roles, qualifications, and whether those details match filings with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Federal agencies are working together more closely as part of the crackdown. The Department of Labor is coordinating with USCIS, the Department of Justice, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, including EEOC attention to national origin discrimination against U.S. workers.

The enforcement focus covers a wide band of conduct within the H-1B visa program. Wage violations sit at the center, but investigators are also examining whether employers recruited U.S. workers in good faith before turning to foreign workers.

Another area under review is whether employers described jobs accurately. Misrepresentation of job responsibilities can affect whether a petition reflects the position actually offered and whether the filing aligns with records the government reviews later.

Termination reporting has also drawn attention. Employers face scrutiny if they fail to notify the government when H-1B workers are terminated.

Worksite accuracy is another enforcement point. Filings that list nonexistent work sites can trigger federal action, especially as site visits expand beyond a single petition and into broader reviews of a company’s workforce records.

Investigators are also targeting “benching,” a practice described here as withholding pay during unassigned periods. That issue has long mattered in a visa category where workers’ legal status often depends on continued employment.

The shift away from complaint-driven cases addresses a pressure point for H-1B workers. Complaint-based enforcement can leave workers weighing whether to report violations while facing risks tied to deportation or unemployment.

Under Project Firewall, the Department of Labor can move first. Data analytics and AI tools now play a role in deciding where to look, giving investigators a way to open cases without waiting for a worker to come forward.

That change matters because H-1B enforcement has historically depended in part on the people most exposed to retaliation. A proactive model transfers more of that burden to the government.

The numbers show how quickly the new model expanded. At least 175 ongoing investigations by November 2025 and roughly 200 by late 2025 point to a system operating at a higher volume than before the initiative began on September 19, 2025.

The financial impact is already visible in the back-wage figure. The Department of Labor had assessed $15 million in back wages as of November 2025.

Those investigations carry risks beyond repayment. Penalties may include back wage orders, civil fines, and debarment from the H-1B program.

Debarment can cut employers off from a labor channel used heavily across the technology sector and beyond. Civil fines add another layer of exposure for companies that fail to follow the program’s rules.

The government’s tougher stance comes as large H-1B users face heightened scrutiny under FY2026 data. The companies named include Amazon, Tata, Microsoft, Infosys, and Google.

That scrutiny arrives alongside a drop in tech filings. Amazon’s filings fell from 4,600+ to 3,000+, while Google and Meta nearly halved.

The filing decline coincides with a set of new rules and proposed changes that raise the cost of using the visa. Those changes include a new $100,000 fee, lottery weighting for higher wages, and a proposed prevailing wage increase of 21-33%.

Taken together, enforcement and filing changes are reshaping the environment for employers that depend on the H-1B visa program. A higher entry cost, more wage pressure, and a stronger audit threat all now sit in the same frame.

For major users such as Amazon, Tata, Microsoft, Infosys, and Google, the pressure is not limited to a single agency review. Project Firewall’s interagency coordination means labor compliance questions can move alongside USCIS, DOJ, and EEOC concerns.

Expanded site visits add to that pressure because they allow investigators to compare what companies filed with what workers are actually doing. Payroll records, job roles, qualifications, hiring practices, and petition details all become part of the same check.

That broader review changes the stakes of an H-1B visa investigation. A case that starts with one petition can widen into a look at an employer’s workforce practices.

The current crackdown also sits against a long record of fraud findings in the program. A 2008 audit found 13% of applications fraudulent and 7% with technical violations.

Those figures remain part of the government’s rationale for tighter oversight. They show that fraud and technical noncompliance were already documented long before Project Firewall began.

Project Firewall therefore stands out less as an isolated action than as a change in enforcement method. The central break is the move from waiting for complaints to generating cases proactively and certifying them through the DOL Secretary.

That method gives the Department of Labor a wider field of vision. Data analytics and AI tools can surface wage patterns, worksite issues, filing inconsistencies, and other indicators that may not produce a worker complaint.

The program’s design also puts more weight on documentary consistency. Employers must ensure that payroll records, job descriptions, qualifications, and worksites match what appears in USCIS filings and in records produced during site visits.

For companies, that means the risk of an H-1B problem no longer depends solely on whether a worker speaks up. The government can identify and pursue cases on its own.

For workers, the shift addresses a basic weakness in the older model. When a person’s legal status and paycheck depend on an employer, reporting a violation can carry immediate personal risk.

The Department of Labor’s current approach tries to bypass that barrier. By generating cases itself, the agency can investigate conduct even when workers remain silent.

The other agencies involved bring their own angles. USCIS reviews the consistency of visa filings, DOJ adds another federal enforcement arm, and the EEOC focus includes national origin discrimination against U.S. workers.

That multiagency structure broadens the consequences of a labor investigation. A company can face scrutiny not only for wages, but also for hiring practices, worker treatment, and whether filings match facts on the ground.

Meanwhile, the policy backdrop keeps shifting. The new $100,000 fee, lottery weighting for higher wages, and a proposed prevailing wage increase of 21-33% add cost and uncertainty for employers already facing stronger audits.

The drop in filings among large tech users shows that the market has already started to react. Amazon’s decline from 4,600+ to 3,000+ and the near halving at Google and Meta point to a changed calculus for some of the biggest participants in the H-1B visa system.

Yet enforcement remains the clearest marker of Project Firewall’s first phase. A 48% surge in federal investigations, at least 175 ongoing probes by November 2025, roughly 200 underway by late 2025, and $15 million in back wages assessed show a crackdown that moved quickly from launch to measurable action.

The initiative leaves employers facing a more aggressive Department of Labor and workers in a system where the government is less dependent on their complaints. With penalties ranging from back wage orders to civil fines and debarment, Project Firewall has turned H-1B compliance from a paperwork issue into an active federal enforcement campaign.