On November 25, 2025, just five (5) days after the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) released updated educational materials addressing anti-American bias in employment practices, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) formally announced its partnership with EEOC in a new enforcement initiative known as “Project Firewall.” The initiative, focused on enforcing compliance with the H-1B visa program, is designed to ramp up investigations into H-1B visa use, particularly in situations where the DOL believes American workers may have been unfairly displaced or overlooked.

EEOC’s updated guidance reiterates that employers may not justify discriminatory practices when making employment decisions based on cost-saving motives, customer preferences, or stereotypes. EEOC further emphasizes national original discrimination, prohibited under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, can include preferring foreign workers, including visa holders, over American workers. While it has long been unlawful to prefer foreign workers over American workers, EEOC’s new materials identify specific practices that signal impermissible bias against American workers, including:

• Discriminatory job advertisements that express a preference for or require applicable specific visa statuses or foreign national origins (“H-1B preferred” or “H-1B only”).
• Disparate treatment of American workers versus visa employees regarding terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, firing, job assignments, compensation, training, fringe benefits, promotion, and demotion.
• Harassment of American workers based on national origin.
• Retaliation by an employer against an American worker because the worker engaged in protected activity under Title VII, such as objecting to or opposing national origin discrimination at work, participating in employer or EEOC investigations, or filing an EEOC charge.

Under Project Firewall, the DOL will increase employer audits and investigations to ensure compliance with the H-1B visa program. If the department finds “reasonable cause” to believe an employer has violated H-1B requirements, potential consequences include: civil money penalties, back wage payments to affected workers, and temporary debarment from the H-1B program.

The combined efforts of the DOL and EEOC mark a significant escalation in the federal government’s coordinated efforts to enforce anti-discrimination laws and protect American workers from biased employment practices that favor nonimmigrant visa holders without lawful justification. In light of this shift, employers may want to reassess recruiting and hiring practices that reference or rely on visa status, particularly where criteria could be perceived as favoring nonimmigrant workers over qualified American workers.