Vice President JD Vance Holds Press Conference on Fighting Visa Fraud

[0:04] Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Vice President of the United States, J.D. Vance. [0:10] Thank you all. Well, good morning to the press and good morning to all the people who've worked [0:26] so hard on this. This is a great day for American workers because we are taking some very concrete [0:31] actions to cut down on some of the H-1B and J-1 visa fraud that we've been tracking over the past [0:37] several months. I'm going to give a particular shout out to Andrew Ferguson, Stephen Miller, [0:41] and of course Todd Blanche, our great Attorney General, who are standing behind me. [0:44] A particular shout out to DOL Secretary Keith Sonderling, who's been really an amazing partner [0:50] in the Anti-Fraud Task Force. Thanks to Keith's hard work, we've uncovered about $20 billion in fraud [0:55] just within his department and secured over 200 convictions in the last five months alone. So [1:01] Keith has been one of our real all-stars on the Anti-Fraud Task Force. And of course, the IG of DOL, [1:08] Anthony Despacito, all of them will speak and then you guys can ask us a few questions. But [1:12] here's the basic problem, something that we've been working towards fixing in the Trump [1:17] administration for a long time. The H-1B visa program is meant to allow companies to bring in [1:23] really the best of the best from outside the United States of America for positions that are [1:28] completely impossible to fill with American workers. Unfortunately, the program has become [1:33] rife with fraud over the last several years, probably the last several decades. And here's the basic game [1:39] that American corporations and foreign corporations will play. They will say, maybe they'll put an [1:44] advertisement in a small town newspaper, they'll go out there and say that we have advertised for a [1:49] position with our company and nobody is responding to it. And they will use that lack of a response [1:54] to then go and replace American workers with what is effectively foreign indentured servants. And I'll get [2:01] into that in a second. But these are not people who are coming into the United States of America, [2:05] these H-1B visas, with the full rights of an American citizen or an American employee. They're [2:09] coming in and being mistreated by their employers and being used to undercut the wages of American [2:14] workers. Now, there are two ways this system fundamentally works. The H-1B visa is how the [2:19] people get into the United States in the first place. And then a PERM program is how those employees [2:26] stay. So after a couple of cycles of H-1B reapplication, the companies will then apply for a PERM, a P-E-R-M, [2:35] which will allow the employee to stay, get a green card and potentially stay in the United States [2:39] indefinitely. So if the H-1B visa is how people come into the country, the PERM program is how they [2:46] stay in the United States to begin with. Now, there has been no company in the United States, [2:51] unfortunately, that has abused this system more than Microsoft. And let me just give you a couple [2:55] of statistics on this. So in the last year, Microsoft, and I want to be clear about the data [3:01] here, so let me check this, but Microsoft laid off last year 6,000, 6,000 American workers. At the same [3:09] time, the company benefited from 6,300 H-1B visas and almost 3,000 green cards. In other words, if you do [3:16] the math, for every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half [3:22] foreign indentured servants. Now, that is a scandalous system that we've allowed in this [3:27] country for far too long. But thanks to the work of this task force and thanks to the empowerment of [3:32] the president of the United States, we're going to stop it. Because thanks to an ongoing investigation, [3:36] we have decided to suspend the PERM program for Microsoft, which means they will no longer be able [3:42] to take those H-1Bs and apply for permanent resident status within the United States of America. [3:51] Now, our message to Microsoft and to any other foreign or domestic corporation is quite simple. [3:56] We obviously want you to thrive in the United States of America. We want people to invest [4:00] in the United States of America, particularly the American technology sector. We are the biggest [4:05] boosters of your industry. We want you to continue to grow and to employ a lot of people, [4:10] but we want you to employ American workers. And so our message to Microsoft is, you're a great [4:15] American company, but you've got to hire great American workers. You cannot lay off American [4:20] workers and then replace them with foreign indentured servants. And I want to talk a little bit about [4:24] that. When I say indentured servants, here's what I mean. When somebody comes in on an H-1B, [4:30] they are completely subordinate to that company. If they lose that job, they have to leave the country. [4:37] So if you think of the basic idea of an American constitutional republic, where we bring people [4:43] in who are fair and equal citizens of the United States of America, they are not controlled by their [4:48] employer. But you bring people in and you basically tell them that if they get out of line, if they get [4:54] too uppity at work, they're not just going to lose their job, but they're going to be deported back to their [4:58] country of residence. Those people are not full citizens. And that's why those people are earning wages [5:03] that are far below the average for American citizens. The second thing I want to say about [5:09] that is this fraud is facilitated not just by the companies themselves, but in some ways is facilitated [5:15] by these foreign outsourcing firms, these firms that help corporations apply and find H-1B visa [5:23] candidates. They're commonly called the witches, the four major outsourcing firms. And these firms are [5:29] as complicit or maybe more so complicit in the visa fraud than any American corporation. And here's the [5:35] basic data. If you are working as an H-1B visa in the United States of America, you're earning $20,000 [5:42] less than an American citizen hired in the same position. If you were brought in by one of these [5:48] foreign outsourcing firms, you're making $48,000 less than an American citizen in a similar position. [5:54] So I'm sure that everybody here understands the game that is being played. You bring in indentured [5:59] servants from outside the country, you lay off American workers, and if you're a corporation, [6:04] you make a ton of money by undercutting the wages of American workers, replacing them with people who [6:11] frankly shouldn't be in the United States of America to begin with. This is a terribly pernicious [6:16] system. It's gone on for too long. And we'd all encourage, by the way, Congress to do something [6:21] about it. But there are things within our authority under the law, our regulatory authorities and [6:27] administration to fix this problem. And that's exactly what we're going to do. I want to make [6:31] one final announcement here, because while we see a lot of H-1B visa fraud, we also see a lot of J-1 [6:36] visa fraud. And this is where some of America's most elite universities bring in foreigners, again, [6:43] to undercut the wages of American residents. Now, there are nine universities in particular that we [6:48] believe merit an investigation. Those universities are Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown, the University [6:54] of Pittsburgh, UC Davis, Caltech, Arizona State, and MIT. And what we see is that when you employ an [7:01] American worker as a graduate student, as a researcher, they're making about $20,000 more than [7:07] someone brought in under a J-1 visa. And importantly, these universities are employing J-1 visas for [7:14] federally funded grants at a rate of about 61%. The national average is 38%. So something weird is [7:20] going on at these universities. They're using these visas way too much. They're using them to undercut [7:25] the wages of American grad students and American researchers. And it simply has to stop. Let me make [7:30] one final point before I turn it over to Keith. This is a fundamental insult to the American worker and to [7:37] the American way of life. We cannot allow visa programs that were designed to ensure that American [7:43] corporations had access to the best and the brightest to use them to undercut the wages of American [7:48] workers. Now, it's one thing if you want to bring in a person like Elon Musk, I think 99% of American [7:54] citizens look at somebody like Elon Musk or Lisa Sue, the CEO of AMD, and they say, obviously, if that [8:00] person wants to come in and build something great in the United States of America, we support that. But if [8:06] you're bringing in an accountant who's making $40,000 a year, and you use that foreign indentured servant [8:13] making $40,000 a year to replace an American worker who is making $70,000 a year, you're not bringing [8:19] in a genius to build a great American corporation. You're committing fraud against the American people [8:24] and against this visa program. It has to stop. And thanks to the work of this task force, and again, [8:28] the empowerment of the president of the United States, we are doing something to stop it. I again [8:33] would encourage Congress to reform this program. It is very clear that it's not working the way that it [8:39] should. But we have tools in the administration to make this program work better for the American [8:44] people. A lot more we could do if Congress was willing to play ball. And again, we extend an [8:49] invitation to both Democrats and Republicans. If you want the H-1B visa program to stop being used [8:55] to defraud the American taxpayer and to undercut the wages of American workers, get to work and we will [9:01] help you. But we're going to do everything that we can in the interim to ensure the program works as it [9:06] was designed to work. And with that, I want to turn it over to our great labor secretary. Keith, [9:11] take it away. Well, thank you, Vice President Vance for the task force and all the task force [9:18] members for the amazing work we do together. Because of this task force, the Department of Labor has [9:23] uncovered $22 billion in visa fraud. But today, we are protecting something far more valuable than [9:31] any dollar amount. We are protecting the American worker. The Department of Labor is taking historic [9:37] action by shutting down the pipeline of systemic fraud, the fraud that has flooded our country [9:42] with foreign labor at the expense of American workers. It begins with universities and companies [9:49] that have turned into visa mills, promoting foreign workers that have lied about their qualifications [9:54] to take jobs from our beloved American workers. But these foreign workers aren't coming here just [10:00] for the job. Employers have enabled this pipeline through fraud, putting foreign labor ahead of [10:08] American workers. And the fraud doesn't end with getting the job. That job becomes a pathway for [10:14] foreign workers and their families to stay in America permanently and eventually becoming U.S. [10:20] citizens. And who pays for it all? The American worker. This administration knows that American workers [10:27] are the best and brightest in the world. These jobs that were stolen from them should have gone and will [10:33] now go to Americans first, not foreigners and especially not foreign fraudsters. And today, thanks to [10:40] President Trump, Vice President and the task force, we are cutting off the head of the snake. The companies that [10:47] have enabled this abuse for decades, due to ongoing criminal investigations led by the Department of Labor's, [10:53] Inspector General Anthony D'Esposito, who will get into this shortly. I am hereby suspending from the [10:59] Permanent Labor Certification Program some of the largest IT outsourcing firms in the world. Cognizant, [11:06] Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini. And also due to multiple active federal investigations, [11:15] the Department of Labor is suspending Microsoft and Adobe from the program. So what does this mean? We will not [11:22] accept any new or process any pending permanent labor certification applications involving these [11:28] companies. Since 2009, just these companies alone have requested almost 3 million foreign workers. They've [11:36] received over 230,000 H-1B visas approvals and over 100,000 permanent labor certifications. That's hundreds of [11:46] thousands of jobs that were taken from American workers. Our historic action is the first critical [11:52] step to stop the fraud and the abuse and ensure that these programs never come at the expense of the [11:59] American worker. Under President Trump's leadership and thanks to Vice President Vance and this task force, [12:03] we are ending the fraud that has fueled reliance on foreign labor. President Trump's Department of Labor will ensure [12:10] that American businesses now look first to the most talented workforce in the world, and that's the [12:16] American worker. Thank you. And now I invite Attorney General Blanche to the stage. [12:24] Thank you very much, Keith, and congratulations on your recent confirmation. So this announcement today [12:31] should send and does send a strong signal to every single employer in the United States that the Trump [12:37] administration will not tolerate discrimination against American workers. For too long, employers have [12:45] engaged in tactics, as you've just heard from the Vice President and Secretary Sonderling, to protect and in [12:51] some cases prefer foreign workers for all types of job opportunities. These practices have shut American [12:58] workers out of the economy of their own country and have made it more difficult for both recent college [13:04] graduates and also experienced workers to get a fair shake at the employment market and a fair wage, [13:12] but no longer. I want to thank the Department of Justice, the folks that work in the Civil Rights [13:17] Division, and the Department of Labor, and their IG's office. You're going to hear from the Inspector [13:22] General in a moment, and also the other members of the task force that have worked so hard over the past [13:27] several months to get where we are today. And just let me make clear, if it's not clear, that the [13:33] Department of Justice, my department is actively investigating companies that do this, that [13:38] favor foreign workers over the American people. The American people have spoken loud and clear. If a [13:43] company, even including Microsoft, Adobe, or any other, discriminates against an American worker in [13:50] favor of someone on the other side of the world, that company has violated the trust of the federal [13:56] government and the American people and will be investigated. This issue has affected Americans across [14:03] generations. But it's especially important to young people with a lot of talent who can't find a job [14:09] because their potential employer may be engaging in these sort of improper and nefarious practices. [14:16] I want to thank the Vice President and Secretary Sonderling for the leadership on this issue. [14:20] It's an honor to be a part of the administration that takes this issue seriously. The issue of foreign [14:26] labor favoritism is something that nobody should ignore. And we at the Department of Justice will continue to [14:32] do our part to make sure that doesn't happen. Thank you very much. I'll now turn it over to [14:36] to Stephen Miller. Thank you very much. Good morning, everybody. Thank you, [14:45] Mr. Vice President, for your leadership, not only on this issue, but the entire body of work the [14:51] Fraud Task Force has done. Since President Trump launched the Fraud Task Force and put the Vice [14:57] President in charge, our worst nightmares about the fraud that had been taking place in this country [15:04] were exceeded. Fraud that has been going on for years, decades, in some cases, generations. [15:09] Vice President Vance and his team have exposed historic volumes of food stamp fraud, daycare fraud, [15:17] Medicaid fraud, health care fraud, Social Security fraud, every kind of fraud you can imagine [15:23] that steals from and betrays American families and workers. Today is no different. What the task force [15:29] and its partners in law enforcement have uncovered is systemic immigration fraud that violates the [15:35] laws and statutes of the United States to undercut American workers and labor. The H-1B program and [15:43] the PERM program that's attached to it have explicit statutory commands that must be followed. [15:49] It requires individuals, for example, to have a unique, highly specialized occupation, as one example. And yet, [15:57] in case after case after case, we see individuals that are being brought into the country for skills [16:02] that are not specialized, that are not unique, and that are not skilled, and that are doing work that [16:08] is currently being done by American workers but at vastly lower pay. If you go back a few decades in [16:13] this country, this was an issue that was covered commonly by our media. In fact, there's a famous special [16:19] that was done by Mike Wallace at CBS, probably almost 30 years ago now, when this program was first starting, [16:24] documenting and detailing these abuses. If you remember in 2015, when President Trump first [16:29] campaigned for president, he had at his rallies American workers in good-paying, middle-class jobs [16:36] with pensions who were laid off and forced to train their foreign replacements as the condition of their [16:41] severance, a phenomenon that is widespread and well-documented. And again, because of this task force, [16:49] this kind of unlawful conduct has been exposed, detailed, documented, and resulted in real concrete [16:57] federal action. I think one of the important things that I would like everyone to take home today [17:02] is that America is blessed with some of the most exceptional talent that has ever existed in the [17:07] history of the world, homegrown American talent. This has been true since the day our country was founded. [17:13] Go back to the Wright brothers and the journey into the skies, the industrial base that powered us [17:20] through World War II, the genius of American space flight and aviation. Homegrown American talent has been [17:29] at the center of one revolution after another. As the Vice President said, we always welcome and bring to [17:34] this country individuals who have exceptional gifts to share with our country. But what we don't do and can't do [17:41] is crush and kill the dreams of millions of young children in middle school and high school who [17:47] want that first step in the ladder but are unable to get it. Or mid-career workers who've dedicated [17:52] their lives to a company and are given two weeks notice just because someone else somewhere in the [17:58] world is willing to do the job 20, 30, 40, 50 percent cheaper than they are. And a lot of the reason why [18:04] they can do it so much cheaper is they are able to then go back to their home countries in the future [18:10] and if they're living in a country where the average salary is two dollars a day or three dollars a day, [18:15] taking half of an American worker's salary is still a raise in their home country. [18:19] The last thing I want to say is that there's been a lot of attention given to how President Trump [18:25] has secured the southern border of the United States, which is the most significant security [18:29] achievement in American history. In other words, the most open border to the most secure border [18:34] in the span of days, nothing has equaled that since this country was founded in terms of a security [18:39] achievement. But what President Trump has done to fix and reform the immigration system more broadly [18:44] is equally as astonishing and impressive. He completely fixed and repaired the refugee program. [18:50] He battled the issue of visa overstays for the first time ever and created the program all throughout [18:56] the world to ensure people are abiding by and obeying the rules of their stay. He cracked down for the [19:02] first time ever on birth tourism, something that has been a scourge and an embarrassment for years. [19:07] He dealt with the issue of immigration from terrorist havens and dangerous nations with [19:13] the travel bans and travel restrictions. He's applied the public charge standard for the first time ever [19:18] to ensure people who are coming to this country are not going to be seeking or reliant on welfare. [19:23] He's dealt with systemic fraud across every different visa program that exists. Generations of work done in [19:29] less than two years so that it is true today that under President Trump, America is the only country in the [19:36] world that has managed to turn an immigration system from being against its people to for its people. [19:44] And in particular, in the Western world, where this has been simmering for a long time, [19:49] President Trump is the only Western leader to deliver for the citizens of this country an immigration [19:55] system that puts them first. No other Western leader has done this. President Trump stands alone. [20:00] I now love to have Mr. D'Esposito, the Inspector General Labor, take the stage. Thank you. [20:06] Thank you very much, Steve, and thank you for your leadership and commitment. Under President Donald [20:13] Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance, fraud is no longer being dismissed as an accounting error. [20:20] Fraud is a crime. Fraud steals American jobs. Fraud fuels violence. Fraud threatens our national security. [20:29] President Trump and Vice President Vance understand that protecting America means standing behind the men [20:36] and women who wear the uniform, giving them the resources to do their jobs and letting cops be cops. [20:43] Alongside my partner, Secretary Keith Sonderling, I am announcing a historic investigation into the [20:50] J-1 visa fraud involving nine major American universities. Pitt, Yale, Harvard, Stanford-Brown, [20:59] U.C. Davis, Caltech, Arizona State, and MIT. Subpoenas have been served, investigations are underway, [21:09] and nobody will be getting a free pass because their name is carved into an expensive building. Improperly [21:17] used J-1 visa classifications to avoid employment obligations, exploit taxpayer-funded programs, [21:25] and undermine American workers will not be tolerated. Approximately 61% postdoctoral researchers [21:34] and federally funded workers at these institutions are foreign nationals. American taxpayers send [21:41] billions of dollars to these universities to support research and innovation. They deserve to know [21:49] where that money is going and whether it's being used lawfully. And China. The Chinese Communist [21:57] Party doesn't need to kick down the doors of America's research laboratories if our own [22:03] institutions are willing to leave the doors wide open. China is not simply an economic competitor. The [22:10] Chinese Communist Party is a sophisticated adversary actively targeting American technology, intellectual [22:17] property, and national security interests. We will investigate whether foreign influence, improper [22:22] financial relationships, or visa abuse are compromising federally funded research. If an American [22:29] university is breaking the law to save a dollar while exposing American research to a foreign adversary, [22:36] that is not academic excellence. It's institutional betrayal. Let me make something else crystal clear. [22:43] I spent a career as an NYPD detective. I worked the streets of Brooklyn investigating violent [22:50] criminals who thought that they were untouchable. I did not back down then, and I sure as hell will not [22:57] back down now. I don't care how prestigious a university thinks it is, break the law and screw the American [23:04] people, and I will personally cuff you in the university square. I don't care how large your endowment is, [23:11] how powerful your alumni are, or how many politicians you have on speed dial. As Vice President Vance said, [23:18] nobody is above the law. That's why we're establishing a visa fraud strike team, bringing together [23:24] investigative expertise from across government. We will follow the money, uncover the schemes, and work [23:30] with Attorney General Todd Blanche to prosecute criminals. We are also launching a Labor Inspector [23:36] General Most Wanted Fraudster List, featuring 16 criminals who have stolen nearly a half a billion dollars [23:44] from Americans. To those fugitives, as AG Blanche's team has said, they will find you anywhere on this [23:52] planet. And our results speak for themselves. Since Vice President Vance's task force to eliminate fraud [23:59] was established, our investigations have contributed to 171 indictments, 203 convictions, 80 arrests, more [24:06] than 70 search warrants, and over a billion dollars identified for the taxpayers. And we're just getting [24:12] started. During my time wearing an NYPD shield, I learned that crime doesn't happen in a vacuum. [24:18] Fraud doesn't end with a stolen dollar. That dollar can become a gun in someone's hand, narcotics that [24:23] kill, a payment to a human trafficker, or resources for a foreign enemy. That's why we're investigating [24:30] the connections between fraud, organized crime, forced labor, human trafficking, and threats to national [24:36] security. President Trump and Vice President Vance have unleashed the resources, empowered law [24:42] enforcement, and made it clear that protecting American workers and taxpayers is a national [24:48] priority. To the hardworking men and women of the Labor Inspector General's Office, you have my full [24:56] support, and we will give you every tool you need to get the job done. Anyone exploiting our immigration [25:02] system, stealing taxpayer dollars, or compromising American security, your university's reputation will [25:09] not protect you. Your political connections will not protect you. Your money will not protect you. The [25:15] only thing that matters is the evidence that we will bring to prosecutions. President Trump demands [25:22] America first, and we, this task force, is delivering. No amount too small, no fraud too large, and [25:30] absolutely no institution above the law. And now it's my honor to introduce the co-chair of the White House [25:37] Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. Andrew Ferguson. Good morning. America is not a jobs program for the rest [25:47] of the world. We didn't build our institutions for the rest of the world. We built them for Americans. [25:53] Our rule of law, our system of sane and sound regulation, our capital markets, our justice system, [26:00] everything that makes the American economy thrive, we did not build for the planet. We built it for us. We [26:05] built it for Americans first. The fraud described today denies Americans that institution. And that [26:12] is what the fraud that the task force has spent the last nine months uncovering has consistently done. [26:17] It denies Americans of their own patrimony. Benefits fraud denies Americans their Medicaid and Medicare [26:24] benefits. SNAP takes the food out of the mouths of children. CDL fraud denies Americans a safe road. [26:31] Immigration fraud denies the Americans the right to decide who will be citizens, fellow citizens of [26:36] their country. And this fraud denies Americans their just wage, a sin that cries out to heaven [26:42] for vengeance. That is why this task force is so important. Fraud of every kind is a frontal assault [26:48] on every institution that Americans hold dear. And if we do not confront it, those institutions will [26:54] keep eroding. Our benefits programs will disappear. Americans will lose their livelihoods. Our roads will be [27:01] unsafe. Crime will continue to rise. Only President Trump and Vice President Vance have ever taken these [27:07] problems seriously. They have deployed the entire federal government to stop it. And that is ultimately [27:12] what this is today. This is protecting institutions that Americans built for Americans and preserving them [27:19] for Americans. That is why this announcement is so huge. I also want to acknowledge the work of Andrea [27:25] Lucas, who's the chairman of the EEOC. She is the greatest chairman of that institution since Clarence Thomas back in [27:32] the 1980s on every issue that previous EEOC's EEOC's refused to touch protecting white American men from [27:40] discrimination, protecting American citizens from national origin discrimination. She has led the EEOC headlong to defend [27:47] Americans from these abusive practices. She has been an incredibly valuable partner of the task force. I know she's been a very [27:53] very valuable partner of the Department of Justice, and we are thrilled to work with her on these issues. [27:58] And with that, I will return it to the Vice President. [28:00] So let me just echo what Andrew just said about Andrea Lucas and, of course, Harmeet Dillon, who have [28:07] been amazing partners in this work, and it wouldn't be impossible without them. We finally have an [28:12] administration and Department of Justice led by Todd Blanche who are taking seriously that American citizens have [28:18] rights in their own country. It sounds like a novel concept, but for so long, we sent a message to people, whether they were white or male or the [28:24] wrong national origin, we said that we were going to defend your rights if you looked the wrong way or you [28:30] didn't belong to the right category. No more in this administration, and that's because of the hard work of [28:35] Harmeet Dillon and Andrea Lucas. Let me make one final point. There's this pernicious idea, and Stephen alluded to it, [28:43] which is that Americans are not good enough for the jobs in their own country. You hear people say that in subtle ways and sometimes explicit ways. When people say that Americans [28:54] won't work on farms or they won't work in certain dirty jobs, what they're really saying is that Americans won't work in those jobs [29:00] for poverty wages, nor should they. When you hear people say that we have to bring in foreign accountants because there aren't enough American [29:07] accountants, what they're saying is that there aren't enough people who can do math in the United States of America, which is absurd. When people say we need to bring in foreign [29:15] IT specialists and quite literally force people to train their own replacements, what we're saying is [29:21] that there are Americans who cannot do those jobs, and that is absurd. To the American people, this visa fraud is a frontal assault on [29:30] the idea that you deserve to inherit the jobs and the positions in your own country. Never believe the lie that Americans are not good [29:39] enough to build a future for Americans. That's what visa fraud tells you. It is a lie, and the President of the United States [29:47] does not stand for it, and neither does anybody on this stage. Thank you. Go ahead. [29:53] Thank you very much. I wanted to ask, you had some harsh words for Microsoft at the top of your speech just then, yet in that case, [30:04] why is President Trump awarding the nation's top technological medal to the CEO of Microsoft this afternoon? [30:11] Well, like I said, Microsoft is a great American company, and we have a great relationship with [30:17] them. They do a lot of important things. They also laid off 6,000 American workers while replacing them [30:24] with 6,300 H1Bs. And our message to Microsoft is not that we want to harm your company. It's that we want [30:30] your company to thrive, but we want it to thrive by employing and empowering your fellow Americans. So we're [30:37] going to continue to support Microsoft and have a great relationship with Microsoft, but we're also going to [30:41] deny them the ability to apply for these permanent residencies until they show that they're going [30:47] to get serious about putting American workers first. Go ahead. Yeah, in the orange, and then the red. [30:57] Thank you. So assuming that a lot of these people have, they brought families over, this is kind of a [31:03] two-part question. If they brought families over and they were living in high-cost living areas, [31:09] so were those families then eligible for social benefits, SNAP benefits, educational benefits? [31:15] If that's the case because of the lower cost, because they weren't being paid as much, [31:20] is the federal government going to be holding some of these companies liable for that to try to [31:25] recoup some of that money that was basically at the taxpayers' expense? Well, in some cases, we actually [31:32] already have tried to ensure that if you're coming to the United States of America and benefiting from [31:37] our very generous welfare system, that you should stop doing that. We've seen that in some of the [31:41] mortgage application programs that we have. We've seen that in a number of other programs as well. So, [31:45] yes, I mean, our message to newcomers to the United States of America, whatever program they're coming [31:50] on, is that you should come to the United States to enrich this country, to make this country better, [31:55] to participate, of course, in the institutions of American democracy. If your purpose in coming to the United [31:59] States of America is to cash a check, meaning a check not for working, but from our generous [32:04] welfare program, then you're not going to enrich the United States of America, and we would prefer [32:08] that you not come here. We're going to continue to look at a number of these things. Again, we've [32:13] already done some of this work, but we're going to continue to look at ways of recouping American [32:17] taxpayer money that has effectively gone to subsidize cheap labor all over the United States of America. [32:23] Thank you so much, Mr. Vice President Cara Castronovo with Lindell TV. You came from working class and [32:29] understand poverty and know the American worker more than anyone else. Where do you think the [32:33] narrative came from that American workers don't want these jobs? And after that, a quick question [32:38] for the attorney general. Yeah, well, look, I think that that narrative came from a very profitable lie, [32:45] because if you're an American corporation and you're paying an accountant in Southern California [32:49] $70,000 a year, but you have an opportunity to replace that accountant with a foreign worker making [32:55] $40,000 a year, then you can make a lot of money by telling American workers that they're not good [32:59] enough. And that's why we have to push back against this lie. Americans are good enough [33:05] to inherit the great things about their country. Americans are good enough to build the future [33:09] in this great country. We cannot allow either foreign or domestic companies to send a message [33:16] to the American people that they're not good enough for their own nation, because when they do, [33:20] it pads their profits. It depresses the American spirit of camaraderie and self-determination. [33:26] It's a terrible deal for American workers, and we're putting a stop to it. And then go ahead and ask [33:31] your question to Todd. Attorney General, just about sort of accountability and repercussions for [33:36] anybody that are breaking these rules. Mr. D'Esposito mentioned cuffs, which everybody smiled at. Will there [33:42] be arrests, or what will the penalties at least be for these companies? Well, I mean, it depends on the case. [33:48] So yes, there are criminal laws that make a lot of this conduct not only illegal, but a violation of [33:53] the criminal laws. And I do think that there are times when, whether it's an institution or leadership [33:59] within an institution, where they are able to avoid criminal liability because of a settlement [34:04] or something like this. And there are other times when the Department of Justice does need to [34:09] go forward and ultimately, whether it's indicting individuals, leaders, people that were part of it, [34:15] or going after the institutions or companies that were doing it. So yes, that's the way investigations [34:20] work. I can't forecast one in particular, but absolutely, what the IG said is exactly right, [34:26] that this is, you have to, that, you know, it's empty threats are just that, they're empty. So unless [34:30] we're actually going to come through, and whether it's prosecutions, whether it's civil suits to get [34:36] the money back and stop the conduct, yes, of course we're going to do that. Great. Thank you, Todd. [34:40] Kaitlyn. Two questions. One, you said that Microsoft is being suspended from this program. Is that [34:47] temporary or permanent, or what is the future forecast for that? And secondly, given how close [34:53] we are to the midterms and you've been out on the campaign trail, given inflation, mortgage rates, [34:58] and gas prices are all higher than when you took office, why does this administration deserve an A-plus [35:03] on the economy, as President Trump says? Well, first of all, it's, the suspension of PERM is going to [35:09] last as long as it needs to. We have a number of tools to suspend it indefinitely, but we actually [35:14] want these companies to change their behavior, improve their behavior, and actually get better. [35:19] That's the goal here. We're not just punishing them to punish them. We're punishing them because [35:22] we want them to change their behavior. This, by the way, is something that applies to Adobe, [35:26] but it could apply to a number of other technology companies as well. Stop defrauding the American [35:32] worker. Stop importing an indentured servant to do a job that an American worker would happily do. [35:38] They're just not going to do it for poverty wages. That's the message that we're sending, [35:41] and obviously we have a number of enforcement tools to continue to drive that message home. [35:45] You know, to your question about the economy, you have to remember, Caitlin, that we inherited [35:50] the worst inflation crisis in 48 years in the United States of America. We have seen 19 trillion [35:56] dollars of new investment come. We've seen a manufacturing boom. We've seen a factory construction [36:01] boom in the United States of America. We've seen a lot of companies, technology companies and otherwise, [36:07] who are reinvesting and reindustrializing the United States of America. [36:11] Does some of those benefits take time to fully, you know, it takes time to build a factory. It takes [36:15] time to hire the people who are going to work in the factory. But what we've seen the president do [36:19] is really reverse 40 years of an economic and industrial stagnation in the United States of America. [36:26] I think it's going to completely recharge the American economy. You're already seeing great benefits, [36:31] but I, you know, we're going to see a lot more benefits come in the months and years ahead. [36:36] And the final point on that is one of the reasons why I think we deserve an A-plus [36:40] from the American worker is because we're finally cutting down on the fraud that's depriving them of [36:46] good wages and good jobs. This program has been defrauded for generations in the United States of [36:52] America. I mean, one of the most heart-wrenching stories I've ever read was a story about an IT worker, [36:58] I believe in California, who had to train his foreign replacement and order, as Stephen said, [37:04] to get his severance package. And then he left his job completely immiserated, lacking his sense of [37:12] self and his sense of purpose, and he committed suicide the very day that he left his job having [37:16] replaced his foreign replacement. This is not how you treat fellow citizens in a constitutional republic, [37:22] and we're stopping it. And that's one of the reasons why I think we deserve great marks [37:25] for the American worker. Jen. Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Do you have any reaction [37:34] to a U.S. government official, in this case a U.S. ambassador, asking someone to pay off debt in [37:41] exchange to access to other government officials? Well, so with that hypothetical, Jen, obviously, [37:49] I don't love that, but I don't know exactly who you're talking about. I don't know the full details. [37:56] What I find with these stories is that you never want to comment in a purely abstract way, because [38:01] a lot of times the details really matter, and the details and the context inform the reality of the [38:06] situation. So, of course, I don't like anybody selling access to another government official, [38:11] certainly a high-level government official, but, you know, I assume you're talking about a specific case, [38:16] and I can't say with confidence that the case you're talking about is actually reflective of the way [38:21] you're describing it. No insult to you, by the way, but context really matters on this stuff, [38:25] so I'd like to get the full story before offering a real opinion. A good lesson for a politician is [38:31] never speak about something you don't have the full facts on, and I just don't have the full facts on [38:34] that one. Go ahead. Yep. Yeah, yeah, go ahead, Amy. Thank you, sir. You mentioned that you want people [38:42] like Elon Musk to come to this country and do something great, but he didn't build his companies [38:46] overnight. He studied here. He was accepted at Stanford, one of the universities that you're studying. [38:51] So how do you decide who's the next Elon Musk and who is not? Well, we have a process to do this and [38:56] have done this for a long time successfully, but also, as others have talked about, with a lot of [39:01] fraud. We ask a very basic question. Number one, does a person coming in fill a position that simply [39:08] cannot be filled by an American worker? That's question number one. Question number two, very [39:12] importantly, is this person a truly elite human being? Are they truly bringing in a special set of [39:18] skills and abilities and work ethic and competence? Unfortunately, what we see with most H-1Bs [39:24] is that you're taking somebody, I'm sure in most cases, a decent human being, and they're using them [39:29] to replace an American middle class worker. You know, Elon Musk obviously has done a lot of great [39:36] things. We want a lot of other people to come into the United States of America if they have truly elite, [39:41] specialized skills. But that's not what the H-1B visa program has become. It's become a program of taking, [39:46] for example, an accountant making a nice middle class wage and replacing them with a foreign [39:51] indentured servant who's making something closer to poverty wages. That is a scandal. And the fact [39:56] that they're undercutting the wages of American workers is a big tell that they don't have a [40:02] hyper specialized skill. You know, one of the things I'm proudest of that we've done on the H-1B program, [40:06] we did it early on, Steven and I worked very closely on this, is that we said we wanted to impose a fee [40:11] on the H-1B application process. And the thought there is very clear. If you're actually bringing [40:17] a truly elite, genius level, super specialized person into the United States of America, [40:22] you're going to be willing to pay a little bit extra to bring that person into your company. [40:27] But if you're just bringing in somebody who's going to undercut the wages of the American worker, [40:30] which is what most H-1Bs are today, then you shouldn't bring that person in. We should actually [40:35] prioritize our workers first. We'll do a couple more. Yeah. How do you define socialism personally, [40:43] and why do you think socialist candidates are popping up everywhere across the country? [40:46] Oh man. You know, I guess it's honestly, it's a hard term to define these days because [40:54] very often socialism, you know, classically you would think socialism is about prioritizing workers. [41:03] And yet in reality, I guarantee that most of the self-described socialists running across the United [41:07] States of America are going to howl about this announcement today, which is prioritizing American [41:13] workers over foreign workers. So I don't know what the term means anymore. I think in reality, [41:18] what it actually means in the American context is that you want to replace American workers with [41:22] foreign workers and you want boys to play in girls sports. That's what unites the socialists that I see [41:27] running across the United States of America today. You know, it's funny. Back in 2016, one of the most [41:33] interesting things that happened is when Bernie Sanders, then of course the leading socialist in [41:39] the United States of America, was asked about open borders, he gave an answer that sounded similar to [41:44] Stephen Miller's, where he said, of course we're not going to have open borders because that's going to [41:48] displace American workers. It is ironic that so many of the self-described socialists running across [41:54] this country, they love the idea of replacing American workers with foreign workers, which suggests to [41:59] me, it's really not about the working class, it's about their hatred of native-born citizens. [42:04] Right? I saw real clear over here. Clarify what exactly the fraud element of this is. What is the [42:13] scale of, you mentioned Microsoft with the 6300, were they lying on those applications? Was there some [42:19] sort of law that they were breaking? Or is it that this was a legal pathway through the system and you're taking [42:25] objection to the system? No, we don't think it was a legal pathway through the system. The nature of the fraud is [42:30] fundamentally that when you apply for these visa programs, you make a couple of certifications. [42:35] One of those certifications is that the person that you're bringing in has a hyper-specialized, [42:40] hyper-capable skill set. And that's clearly not the case if you're just replacing one American [42:46] worker with a foreign indentured servant and undercutting their wages in the process. And so [42:50] the fraud is that they're making representations when applying for this program that are fundamentally [42:56] illegitimate and therefore ultimately illegal. And then we'll do one more in the back there. [43:01] Just a broader question about the task force. There's been calls to investigate [43:08] allegations of fraud into Planned Parenthood. Is that something that the task force isn't [43:12] looking at or is that sort of another anti-abortion step that the administration will take after the [43:17] midterms? Well, I've certainly heard some of those calls. I don't think that we, I mean, Andy, maybe you [43:22] can speak to this a little bit. I don't believe that we've taken significant steps on this task [43:27] force yet, but obviously when we see credible allegations of fraud against any organization [43:33] of any political persuasion, whether, to Anthony's point, whether it's an institution big or small, [43:38] we take it very seriously. Unfortunately, and others have made this point, there is so much fraud in [43:43] the United States of America that we're investigating a lot of it, but we're kind of drinking out of a fire [43:49] hose because unfortunately the U.S. government allowed this stuff to go on for way too long [43:53] without actually checking on it. So we're certainly looking into any credible allegation of fraud, [43:58] but we have not done a large amount of work on that particular issue just because it's something that [44:03] we found out about relatively recently. All right, guys, have a great day. Thank you all.