President Trump signed an Executive Order on September 18, 2026, titled “Enhancing Program Integrity and Interagency Coordination in the Administration of the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Program”. The Order aims to aggressively enforce the H-1B program and change how federal agencies scrutinize H-1B petitions, labor condition applications, and visa adjudications.
The Order asserts that the H-1B program has been “widely abused” by certain employers, resulting in depressed wages and the displacement of skilled US labor. It cites an estimated wage gap of $9,000 to $20,000 between H-1B holders and comparable US-born workers in H-1B-reliant industries.
Key Provisions of the Order
The Order has three operative provisions. First, more agencies will be involved in H-1B decisions, with the Secretaries of State, Labor, and Homeland Security required to coordinate and consult with other agencies when processing H-1B petitions and labor condition applications.
Second, employers’ layoff history will now be a factor in H-1B decisions. Agencies will consider whether the sponsoring employer has engaged in layoffs within the previous year or plans future layoffs that negatively affect US workers.
Third, the Department of Labor will review previously submitted labor condition applications to determine whether further action is warranted under the Immigration and Nationality Act. This review will be retrospective, not prospective. The Department of Labor will begin reviewing data related to previously submitted labor condition applications by October 18, 2026, to determine whether further action against sponsoring employers is warranted, which may include investigations, penalties, and potential debarment.
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Implications for Employers
Employers who have had layoffs recently or are planning them should expect heightened scrutiny of their H-1B filings. They should audit their layoff-to-H-1B pipeline and document why each H-1B role is not interchangeable with any recently eliminated position.
Next Steps
The Secretaries of State, Commerce, Labor, and Homeland Security have been delegated broad authority to issue or adopt rules, policies, operational guidance, or other guidance to carry out this Order. Implementing regulations and policy memoranda are expected in the coming months.
As the Order is implemented, employers should closely monitor developments and adjust their strategies accordingly. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services website will likely provide updates on the implementation of the Order and any new requirements for H-1B petitions and labor condition applications.
The Order’s implementation is also noteworthy as it comes at a time when employers have collectively laid off between 800,000 and 1.3 million American employees from 2022 through 2026 while requesting H-1B visas for hundreds of thousands of workers, highlighting the need for increased scrutiny and enforcement of the H-1B program to protect US workers.
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