No, Giving Immigrants Research Jobs Is Not Fraud​

Vice President J.D. Vance—who is heading the Trump administration’s efforts to eradicate fraud—has set his sights on another alleged form of wasteful spending. 

Last week, Vance announced a probe into nine universities over alleged J-1 visa fraud as part of the Trump administration’s broader crackdown on foreign worker programs. Vance’s central complaint is that the named universities—which include Harvard, Stanford, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology—are “employing J-1 visas for federally funded grants at a rate of about 61 percent” compared to the “national average of just 38 percent.” 

“Something weird is going on at these universities,” Vance added. “They’re using these visas way too much. They’re using them to undercut the wages of American grad students and American researchers, and it simply has to stop.” Naturally, he figured that this warranted a fraud investigation.

Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito, who is leading the investigation, had some harsh words for universities. “Improperly used J-1 visa classifications to avoid employment obligations, exploit taxpayer-funded programs, and undermine American workers will not be tolerated.” He said, “I don’t care how prestigious a university thinks it is. Break the law and screw the American people, and I will personally cuff you in the university square.” He also raised concerns that universities were exposing American research to foreign adversaries, specifically China.

The press conference sounded more like an indictment of the J-1 program than of fraud. Unlike the H-1B visa—which allows employers to sponsor high-skilled foreign workers—the J-1 is more like an exchange program than a dedicated work visa; it doesn’t require employers to pay the prevailing wage or visa holders to pay Social Security or Medicaid taxes within the first two years. Universities using the program to hire cheaper foreign labor is simply a feature of the program.

The real picture is much muddier than Vance cited figures suggest. The inspector general’s announcement states that “approximately 61 percent of postdoctoral workers and researchers supported by federal grants at the nine universities are foreign nationals, compared to 38 percent at other universities.” Foreign nationals could include H-1B holders and other visa categories, not just J-1s as Vance claimed. Additionally, the 38 percent figure comes from unspecified “other universities,” rather than the national average.

D’Esposito had a fiery tone, but neither he nor Vance pointed to a single instance of a university breaking the rules. Their evidence is merely a statistic showing these schools, which are elite research institutions, hire a lot of foreign researchers. Vance’s primary objection isn’t that these universities have broken the law; it’s that they are hiring foreigners instead of Americans, undermining his protectionist agenda.

Opposition to visa programs is, unfortunately, found on both the left and the right. In his first term, President Donald Trump enacted a slew of restrictions that complicated the H-1B visa application process and increased denial rates to 24 percent in FY 2018 (up from 6 percent in FY 2015).  In 2020, the administration was forced to rescind key policies behind those rising denials after a federal judge ruled they hadn’t followed the required rulemaking process. In September last year, Trump imposed a $100,000 fee on H-1B petitions. A federal judge struck it down in June, saying it exceeds the president’s authority and violates the separation of powers.

Other presidents have used federal power as leverage against higher education. But Trump’s war on universities—including the freezing of federal funds for universities like Columbia and Harvard for alleged instances of antisemitism—is mostly unprecedented. These actions are indicative of a more enduring problem: Federal dollars come with federal influence, and as long as universities depend on federal funding, they will remain at Washington’s mercy. If universities want lasting independence, the answer isn’t to reduce their use of the J-1 visa. It’s to get off the federal teat altogether.