President issues order to tighten H-1B visa program oversight
The order binds State, Labor, Homeland Security, Commerce, Education and SBA and takes effect immediately
Executive Order 14431, signed September 18, 2026, directs the federal government to protect American workers by improving the integrity of the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program. The order cites wage gaps of $9,000 to $20,000 and layoffs ranging from 800,000 to 1.3 million between 2022 and 2026 as evidence of abuse.
Section 2 requires the Secretaries of State, Labor and Homeland Security to coordinate with the Secretaries of Commerce and Education and the Administrator of the Small Business Administration when processing petitions, labor condition applications and visas. The coordinating agencies must supply relevant wage, employment, academic, industrial or other economic information.
Section 3(a) instructs the three lead secretaries to consider whether an employer sponsor has conducted layoffs in the previous year or plans future layoffs that would negatively affect similarly situated U.S. workers. Section 3(b) orders the Department of Labor, through the Wage and Hour Division, to begin reviewing data from previously submitted labor condition applications within 30 days of the order. Section 3(c) delegates the President's authority under INA section 215(a) to the four secretaries for rulemaking, policy or guidance.
Section 4 states that the order does not impair existing agency authority, does not create any enforceable right, and is subject to the availability of appropriations. Publication costs are assigned to the Department of Homeland Security.
The order notes that the top six outsourcing users of the H-1B program accounted for over 25,000 cap registrations and references a foreign minister's comment that H-1B "has become the outsourcing visa." The order is filed as FR Doc 2026-19555.
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