DoJ sues company that refused to hire Americans
More of this, please.
The Department of Justice is cracking down on companies that show a preference for hiring foreign workers over Americans. DoJ filed suit against a Colorado company that refused to hire three Americans as seasonal technicians, preferring to employ foreign workers under the H-2A visa program.
The complaint alleges that in 2016, Crop Production discriminated against at least three United States citizens by refusing to employ them as seasonal technicians in El Campo, Texas, because Crop Production preferred to hire temporary foreign workers under the H-2A visa program.
"In the spirit of President Trump's Executive Order on Buy American and Hire American, the Department of Justice will not tolerate employers who discriminate against U.S. workers because of a desire to hire temporary foreign visa holders," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. "… Where there is a job available, U.S. workers should have a chance at it before we bring in workers from abroad."
This is the first complaint filed stemming from the "Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative," which was launched on March 1.
A Civil Rights Division official told Fox News that since the initiative's launch, the division has opened 29 investigations of "potential discrimination against U.S. workers based on a hiring preference for foreign visa workers."
DOJ officials also told Fox News the department has reached at least one settlement with a company discriminating against U.S. workers in favor of foreign visa workers, and distributed over $100,000.
There is no more abused immigration rule than worker visa programs. The H-2A program, and other visa programs that allow foreign workers into the U.S., was never meant to replace American workers or keep Americans from being employed. These programs were designed to take up the slack in seasonal employment and hire foreigners when there aren't enough Americans qualified to do the job.
The latter reason is dubious and complicated, which is why companies can get away with preferential hiring. In this case, the transgression was apparently so obvious that DoJ sued. You can expect a settlement by the company, who won't want to go through an extended legal process.
The case will also act as a deterrent to other companies who are abusing the visa program and keeping Americans from working jobs for which they are qualified.