Trump Administration Claims Facebook Improperly Reserved Jobs for H1-B Workers

By Deepa Seetharaman, Sadie Gurman and Michelle Hackman

The Trump administration has sued Facebook Inc., accusing the social-media company of illegally reserving high-paying jobs for immigrant workers it was sponsoring for permanent residence, rather than searching for available U.S. residents who could fill the positions.

In a 17-page complaint filed Thursday, the Justice Department's civil rights division said Facebook inadequately advertised at least 2,600 positions between 2018 and 2019 that were filled by immigrants on H-1B high-skill visas when it was applying to sponsor those workers for permanent residency, known as green cards. Companies sponsoring workers for employment-based green cards are required to show as part of the federal application process that they couldn't find any qualified American workers to fill the job.

The suit said Facebook didn't advertise the reserved positions on its website and requires candidates to mail in their applications rather than accepting them online.

"And even when U.S. workers do apply, Facebook will not consider them for the advertised positions," the suit alleges. "Simply put, Facebook reserves these positions for temporary visa holders."

Facebook didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Write to Deepa Seetharaman at Deepa.Seetharaman@wsj.com, Sadie Gurman at sadie.gurman@wsj.com and Michelle Hackman at Michelle.Hackman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 03, 2020 14:32 ET (19:32 GMT)

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