On Monday, the USCIS announced new enforcement measures aimed at “cracking down on abuse in the H-1b program” In this announcement, they specifically targeted the staffing and consulting industry declaring that there is more likely to be fraud and abuse in situations where there is a 3rd party placement. They also expect to target small and new employers as they will often not show up in the VIBE database. Lastly, they also plan on targeting dependent employers. On the heels of the declaration that computer programmers may not qualify for the H-1b visa, there should be no doubt that the high tech industry is clearly in the cross-hairs of the Trump administration. If you happen to be an IT company that places people at 3rd party sites and you haven’t done an internal audit of your H-1b placements, Public Access Files, or procedures in a while, now is the time to do so. Even more troubling than the targeting of a specific industry is that the examiners will enter any site investigation with a pre-conceived notion that there is fraud and abuse. It is always tough to get a fair hearing when the judge believes you are guilty before any facts have been brought to light. Welcome to 2017 !