(The Center Square) – The Office of Attorney General has launched investigations into 30 north Texas businesses for alleged H-1B visa abuse.
The OAG has issued Civil Investigative Demands to nearly 30 North Texas businesses, including Tekpro IT LLC, Fame PBX LLC, 1st Ranking Technologies LLC, Qubitz Tech Systems LLC, Blooming Clouds LLC, Virat Solutions, Inc., Oak Technologies Inc, Techpath Inc, and Techquency LLC.
“These companies are suspected of engaging in fraudulent practices designed to exploit the H-1B visa program,” the OAG said in a news release. Allegations include companies using “ghost offices” claiming they are conducting various business operations that don’t exist in order to sponsor foreign nationals into the country.
The H-1B program is administered and overseen by several federal agencies, including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the departments of State and Labor. It allows employers “to hire nonimmigrant aliens as workers in specialty occupations or as fashion models of distinguished merit and ability … to help employers who cannot otherwise obtain needed business skills and abilities from the U.S. workforce by authorizing the temporary employment of qualified individuals who are not otherwise authorized to work in the United States.”
The greatest number of H-1B visa holders are from India, more than 70% in 2024, according to USCIS data. The second greatest number of holders are from China.
CIDs were sent to companies as part of a formal investigation and require documentation and response to questions to be provided within a specific timeframe. Information requested includes “identifying all employees working for these companies, records detailing the specific products or services provided, financial statements, and communications related to company operations for the businesses,” the OAG says.
The investigation has expanded since it was first launched in January targeting three companies. They have been accused of allegedly “setting up sham companies featuring websites advertising nonexistent products or services to Texas consumers in order to fraudulently sponsor H-1B visas. … These companies have allegedly sponsored numerous H-1B visas in recent years despite a lack of evidence that they actually provide any of the products or services advertised,” according to the OAG.
The OAG investigation was launched after ongoing public outcry at Frisco City Council meetings and in other areas in north Texas where population shifts are occurring. Frisco residents argue a disproportionate number of Indian nationals are relocating there alleging H-1B visa abuse. Several have argued the city and region are experiencing an “Indian takeover” and have been called bigots and racists.
North Texas has been a major relocation hub for businesses, with many Fortune 500 companies relocating their headquarters there, The Center Square reported.
Frisco is among many fast-growing cities in Texas and the U.S. Its population grew from nearly 34,000 residents in 2000 to more than 230,000 by 2024, according to the Frisco Economic Development Corporation. Its current population estimate is 247,452, according to city data. The city does not directly employ H-1B workers, according to USCIS data.
The city’s “population at a glance fact sheet” states nearly 34% of its population is Asian. This is up from 26% in 2020, 10% in 2010 and 2% in 2000, according to the data. In Frisco ISD, 44% of students are Asian, according to Texas Education Agency data.
The OAG investigation was launched after President Donald Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott have taken executive actions against the H-1B program.
Earlier this year, Trump issued an executive order restricting entry for “aliens as nonimmigrants to perform services in specialty occupations in the H-1B program unless their petition is accompanied by a $100,000 payment.”
“American workers are being replaced with lower-paid foreign labor, creating an economic and national security threat to the nation,” he said. He said IT workers with H-1B visas accounted for 32% in fiscal 2003, surpassing 65% in recent years, The Center Square reported.
In January, Abbott directed all state agencies and publicly funded higher education institutions to freeze H-1B visa petitions and launch a review of current program use.
“The economy of Texas should work for the benefit of Texas workers and Texas employers,” he said. A state investigation was necessary, Abbott said, “In light of recent reports of abuse in the federal H-1B visa program, and amid the federal government’s ongoing review of that program to ensure American jobs are going to American workers.”
