US Launches Major H-1B Visa Fraud Probe Targeting Cognizant and Labor Trafficking
The Trump administration announced a major probe into H-1B visa abuse, targeting Cognizant and alleged human trafficking schemes. The investigation aims to combat labor trafficking and visa exploitation in the US.
The Trump administration launched its first major H-1B and PERM visa fraud investigation on July 8, 2026, opening a multi-agency crackdown led by the Department of Labor alongside the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice. The probe, run out of the Labor Department's Office of Inspector General under the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, names Indian IT giant CTSH among the companies under scrutiny, though no formal charges have been filed.
Inspector General Anthony D'Esposito said investigators have already begun issuing dozens of subpoenas to companies and labor brokers suspected of manipulating the visa system. The office says it uncovered schemes in which employers and labor brokers allegedly submitted fraudulent applications, used coercive wage-kickback arrangements, and undercut American workers with below-market wages.
For CTSH and other large IT services firms that rely heavily on H-1B staffing pipelines, a sustained federal investigation raises both legal-cost risk and the possibility of tighter visa issuance going forward, a structural cost pressure for a business model built on offshore-to-onshore staffing arbitrage.
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