Thirteen House Republicans, including four from Texas, asked Attorney General Todd Blanche on Friday to review an administrative law judge’s decision that dismissed a discrimination case over recruiting aimed at H-1B visa holders.
Reps. Chip Roy, Keith Self, Randy Weber, and Brian Babin signed the letter with nine other Republicans. They wrote that the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer’s decision “may significantly limit protections against discriminatory advertising and recruitment.”
The case is U.S. Tech Workers v. Boston Consulting Group. USTW, which says it works to have companies hire U.S. tech workers before recruiting abroad, filed the complaint in 2024. It alleged BCG took part in “P-33 Chicago H-1B Connect,” a Chicago-area effort to recruit H-1B holders. USTW said the program discouraged U.S. citizens from applying and violated the citizenship-status protections in Section 274B of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
On Aug. 12, an administrative law judge dismissed the case, finding that USTW had failed to allege sufficient facts to support its discrimination claims. The judge also concluded that Section 274B does not independently prohibit discriminatory job advertising, although such advertising may serve as evidence of unlawful hiring or recruitment practices.
They pointed to the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which bars citizenship-status discrimination in hiring and says it is not an unfair practice to hire a U.S. citizen over an equally qualified alien. “If employers can expressly target foreign workers while discouraging Americans from applying, those protections are substantially weakened,” the letter said.
The signers also cited the Justice Department’s August settlement with OpenAI. The company and a subsidiary paid $3.2 million to resolve claims they favored temporary-visa holders and discouraged U.S. applicants, including by requiring paper applications and advertising openings on late-night radio. OpenAI denied wrongdoing. The members wrote that the same rules should apply when companies use third-party platforms or ads that exclude American workers.
USTW thanked the 13 members on X on Monday and said Blanche has until the middle of this week to decide whether to review the case. Roy said he was proud to co-lead the letter with Gosar and that “it’s time to end widespread H-1B abuse once and for all.”