U.S. Congressman Riley Moore has sharply criticized employment-based immigration frameworks, characterizing the H-1B visa and Optional Practical Training (OPT) programs as “scams” that displace qualified American computer science graduates with lower-cost foreign workers primarily sourced from India and China.
Sharing excerpts from a recent television appearance on social media platform X, Moore alleged that major corporations systematically exploit specialized visa pathways to circumvent domestic talent in favor of cheaper overseas labor.
Speaking on The Scott Jennings Show on Salem News Channel, Moore questioned the current alignment of the guest-worker pipeline with domestic labor market realities:“650,000 Americans graduated with computer science-related degrees, but they’re being replaced by the 500,000 H-1B visa holders who are mostly from China and India. This doesn’t make sense. They’re willing to do these jobs at a lower rate, cheaper labor, and so all of our kids are getting replaced.”
Moore argued that while the H-1B framework was originally conceived to help U.S. employers recruit foreign specialists for roles that could not be staffed domestically, it has transformed into a corporate tool that undercuts entry-level American professionals entering technical disciplines such as software engineering, computer programming, and accounting. He further claimed that H-1B admissions facilitate uncontrolled family migration, alleging that each primary visa holder brings an average of ten family members to the United States.
The lawmaker’s remarks coincide with regulatory measures that could significantly tighten operational parameters for non-immigrant professionals. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed a regulatory change that would eliminate the longstanding policy of deference granted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). If adopted, immigration officers would have the discretion to re-adjudicate and reassess an applicant’s eligibility during H-1B and L-1 extension petitions, even when there are no material changes to underlying employment terms or previous approvals.
According to USCIS data, Indian professionals accounted for roughly 70 percent of all approved H-1B petitions in fiscal year 2025. Analysts note that any tightening of renewal standards or legislative caps would disproportionately impact Indian tech talent and U.S. enterprise staffing across the broader technology sector.
Sources: Salem News Channel (The Scott Jennings Show), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and International Wire Feeds.