Patriot Brief
What Happened: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a sweeping investigation into alleged H-1B visa abuse, beginning with three North Texas businesses suspected of fraud.
Why It Matters: The probe targets claims that sham companies used fake offices and nonexistent services to secure visas, potentially displacing American workers.
Bottom Line: Texas is moving to enforce immigration law and protect jobs by cracking down on visa fraud schemes.
Texas is officially done playing nice with visa fraudsters. We aren’t Minnesota, after all.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a sweeping investigation into abuse of the H-1B visa program, starting with three North Texas businesses suspected of fraudulent activity. According to Paxton’s office, these companies allegedly set up sham operations with websites advertising products or services that do not exist, all to fraudulently sponsor H-1B visas.
The allegations are not minor. Reports indicate one business listed a single family home as its office address while claiming to operate from an empty, unfinished building. Despite little to no evidence of legitimate operations, the companies allegedly sponsored numerous H-1B visas in recent years.
Paxton did not mince words. “Any criminal who attempts to scam the H-1B visa program and use ‘ghost offices’ or other fraudulent ploys should be prepared to face the full force of the law,” he said. “Abuse and fraud within these programs strip jobs and opportunities away from Texans. I will use every tool available to uproot and hold accountable any individual or company engaged in these fraudulent schemes. My office will continue to thoroughly review the H-1B visa program and always work to put the interests of Americans first.”
As part of the investigation, Paxton has issued Civil Investigative Demands seeking employee records, financial statements, details on products or services provided, and internal communications tied to the companies’ operations.
For years, Americans have been told the H-1B program is about filling skill gaps. What keeps surfacing instead are schemes that benefit corporations while sidelining U.S. workers. Texas is now signaling it will not look the other way.