Gaming the System: H-1B Program Abuses

A new episode of the Center for Immigration Studies podcast features Amanda Bartolotta, an investigative reporter for WorldNetDaily, for a detailed, evidence-based examination of abuses within the H-1B visa program and the powerful trade groups that profit from it. Drawing on firsthand experience in the tech sector, Bartolotta explains how certain IT staffing and outsourcing firms, often referred to as “body shops”, have built a business model around labor arbitrage, using temporary visa programs to displace U.S. workers while shifting jobs and intellectual capital overseas. The discussion focuses heavily on the ITServe Alliance, a trade organization representing hundreds of IT staffing firms that rely on H-1B, OPT, CPT, and related visa programs. Bartolotta explains how Bloomberg has documented exploitation of the H-1B lottery through multiple registrations for the same workers. She also outlines how ITServe openly promotes an integrated onshore-offshore labor pipeline, recruiting abroad while partnering with Indian state governments to expand offshore operations, all while lobbying U.S. policymakers as an “American job creator.” The episode also explores Bartolotta’s personal experience working in tech, where she witnessed offshoring firsthand, raised civil rights concerns, and later became the subject of retaliation after filing complaints. Her reporting examines how visa dependency, restricted worker mobility, benching practices, and green card manipulation raise serious legal and ethical concerns. In the closing commentary, Mark Krikorian, the Center's executive director and podcast host, highlights how Virginia’s new governor moved immediately to turn the state into a sanctuary jurisdiction, underscoring how quickly policy can be reversed when changes are not embedded in statute. He argues that this lesson applies at the federal level as well, and that the Trump administration must prioritize lasting legislative reforms if immigration policy is to endure beyond a single administration. Host Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies Guest Amanda Bartolotta is an investigative reporter for WorldNetDaily Related Amanda Bartolotta's Author Page Foreign Influence and Lobbying Network Hub Americans Left Behind: IT Serve and the Big Business of Labor Arbitrage Visa Power, Political Influence and the Big Business of Labor Arbitrage Intro Montage Voices in the opening montage: Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference. Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad. President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act. Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech. Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977. Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview. Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019. Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance. Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor. Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech. Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".