Texas journalist Sara Gonzales, who knocked on the doors of a few H-1B addresses in Texas, exposing a ‘major scam’ in the state, has now targeted Indian recruiters offering ‘H-1B only’ jobs at various US locations on LinkedIn. Gonzales said she visited the websites of the companies and found a common pattern: most of the contact numbers given on the sites do not work, the companies have their offices in India; they have unpolished/ wrong choice of English words on their sites; and they rent out virtual remote coworking space so that they can have an address but no one is there.”Let me be clear to the fraudsters. We are not done. Keep watching. It may be you we are exposing very shortly,” Gonzales said. The journalist added that it was her expose that prompted Texas Governor Greg Abbott to announce a freeze on H-1B hiring ban in state agencies. Also, Texas AG Ken Paxton announced an investigation into three private companies. Gonzales said she researched for an evening and found an avalanche of information about Indian recruiters posting ‘H-1B only’ ads on LinkedIn. Revealing their names and the companies they have been hiring for, Gonzales read out one advertisement that was offering jobs only for H-4s, who are dependents of H-1Bs. “This is the whole scheme. You get in, you get to bring your whole family, you bring your children. Then your children need to be taught by another H-1B. And that H-1B brings their family in, and they bring their children. It is a recurring, never-ending cycle,” Gonzales said adding that H-1B is supposed to be used only when American talent is not found for some very niche skills.The IT consulting firms are double-dipping as they don’t pay what they get from the companies to the H-1Bs they hire, the journalist alleged. “If you are a Green Card holder, if you did immigrate to this country, if you came to this country as a foreign national and paid your dues, and you are now a Green Card holder, you still do not need to apply. We don’t want you. We want the non-immigrant visas. What a slap in the face,” Gonzales said.
