BlazeTV host and journalist Sara Gonzales’ recent reporting on widespread abuse and potential fraud in the H-1B visa program in Texas has already been hugely impactful.
In direct response to her investigative videos, Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) ordered all state agencies and public universities to immediately freeze new H-1B visa petitions and applications until May 2027. In addition, he ordered reviews of existing H-1B programs and usage in those taxpayer-funded entities to fight fraud, combat misuse of the federal program, and ensure priority for American/Texas workers in those jobs.
Now Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) is joining the fight. On Wednesday, Paxton announced a sweeping investigation into the program. He also issued Civil Investigative Demands to three North Texas businesses suspected of fraudulent activity, requiring them to provide employee details, proof of operations, and other documents to verify legitimacy.
If these CIDs reveal fraud in the H-1B companies Sara investigated, says Paxton, the scammers behind it “potentially could lose their ability to operate in Texas and have to pay a lot of money back to the state of Texas.”
“I have to tell you: From our digging that we’ve done, you’re going to need a lot of manpower on this,” says Sara.
“I keep giving the analogy — it’s like an onion. … Every layer back that we pull, it just doesn’t make any sense. You’re going to get a redirect to addresses that don’t actually exist or remote working locations where there is nobody there.”
But Paxton is confident in his team. “The good thing is we have a lot of practice doing things just like this. We’ve gone after a lot of companies that are defrauding our consumers, so we’ve had experience doing this, so it’s not our first rodeo,” he says. “We will definitely find out what’s going on.”
If Paxton’s office finds fraud in H-1B businesses, Sara wants to know what happens next.
“We don’t actually revoke [their business licenses], but, you know, a judge would if we were successful,” says Paxton. “And also deceptive trade practice. If we could show that they have deceived consumers and show what the damages are, we get treble damages.”
“I’m told that a lot of Indian scammers or Chinese scammers or whoever the scammers are — that they’re watching what I’m doing. They’re very scared. They’re sending WhatsApp messages. … And so I would imagine that … there’s a high likelihood that they may be watching this right now,” says Sara, “and I’d like to know if you have any message for any of these scammers.”
Paxton pulls no punches. “Stop … because we’re going to find out what the truth is.”
“If there are other companies doing this, which I would guess there are, if they are violating our laws or deceiving consumers, we’re going to find out.”
To hear more of the conversation, watch the full interview above.
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