This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The American program to issue H-1B visas to overseas workers with so-called "expertise" unavailable in American workers has been mired in scandal for weeks and months already.
Now a report from a Swiss tech consultancy organization, CTOL, charges that a Walmart executive was dismissed and some 1,200 tech contractors were locked out of their programs because there had been kickbacks of up to $30,000 a day involved in the dealings.
Under the program, foreign workers are granted special permissions to work in the U.S. or for U.S. companies if they have qualifications and skills for technical jobs that cannot be filled by American workers.
The upside for corporations is that they have been shown to be essentially concealing their job postings, then claiming there are no available Americans, then going with overseas workers under contract who are paid only a fraction of what American workers would make.
The latest scandal to hit took aim at Walmart, with CTOL alleging 1,200 "technology contractors found themselves locked out of their systems, their access badges deactivated, their projects suspended indefinitely."
The report, which revealed there was no confirmation from Walmart on the events, said the mass termination was because of a "corruption scheme that reached into the highest echelons of Walmart's Global Tech division."
It cited "sources" in charging, "The retail giant's abrupt severance of ties with Caspex-sourced contractors followed the firing of a Global Tech vice president who had been orchestrating an elaborate kickback operation. Daily payments starting from $30,000 flowed from contracting agencies seeking preferential treatment in Walmart's vast technology ecosystem."
CTOL charged, "The Walmart case exemplifies a pattern that has emerged across the technology sector's staffing ecosystem since 2023. Layered vendor relationships—where prime contractors sublease work to secondary vendors, who in turn engage tertiary providers—have created opaque financial structures that obscure accountability while enabling systematic exploitation."
The Hindustan Times reported that Walmart later confirmed the firings "had nothing to do with H-1B visas."
Walmart said, "Following an investigation, Walmart recently terminated one vendor and a small number of U.S.-based associates. This investigation had nothing to do with H1B visas."
Even so, the report said, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, suggested it may be time to pause H-1B visas.
The report continued, "Walmart, earlier this year, had announced plans to lay off 1500 workers, which was part of its restructuring efforts. Although this had nothing to do with H-1B workers, there was backlash on social media that the layoffs were being orchestrated to replace U.S. workers with H-1B holders."
Comments on the issue at Revolver included, "The H-1B visa system is a scam, plain and simple. What started decades ago as a 'temporary work program' to fill supposed gaps in specialized fields has turned into a full-blown racket that sells out American workers and ships our middle class right out the window."
The commentary charged, "U.S. corporations are gaming the system, replacing qualified Americans with cheaper foreign labor, all while patting themselves on the back for being 'innovative' and 'diverse.'"
And it went on, "For years now, corporate elites and their buddies in The Swamp have locked Americans out of good jobs by rigging the hiring system so cheap foreign labor can help line their pockets. They've built an underground pipeline that pretends to 'recruit' U.S. workers while actually funneling the positions to cheap H1-B workers. The whole scheme runs on secrecy, red tape, and the government's flat-out refusal to enforce the law."
