❓WHAT HAPPENED: Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) has revealed that a number of American companies are abusing the H-1B visa program to fill diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) jobs.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Sen. Eric Schmitt, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), American companies, and H-1B visa applicants.

📍WHEN & WHERE: Schmitt revealed his office’s findings on Thursday, September 25, 2025.

💬KEY QUOTE: “[I]n light of everything we know about DEI, it’s alarming that American employers appear to be importing foreign workers to work in these roles—placing non-Americans in positions where they are tasked with policing the speech and thought of our own citizens.” — Sen. Eric Schmitt

🎯IMPACT: Schmitt is requesting USCIS issue guidance “clarifying that positions relating to DEI… do not qualify as H-1B specialty occupations” and “conduct a focused review of approvals… to identify DEI-tagged cases and take appropriate corrective action.”

United States Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) has revealed that a number of American companies are abusing the H-1B visa program to fill diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) jobs. The revelation is especially egregious as some progressive political figures have justified DEI programs and employment as a means to lift up so-called “marginalized” ethnic minority Americans.

“This is outrageous. Some U.S. companies are using H-1B visas to staff their DEI offices,” Sen. Schmitt wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “I’ve reviewed numerous examples of hospitals, universities and other employers hiring foreign H-1B workers as DEI bureaucrats. I’m urging USCIS [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] to work with us to fix this.”

The Missouri Republican says his office has obtained and reviewed a number of H-1B visa requests filed by American employers to fill DEI roles. Schmitt notes, “For example, Yale New Haven Health filed Labor Condition Applications (LCA) for H-1B visas for the role of ‘Diversity and Inclusion Specialist’ in 2021.” Other academic institutions, according to the Senator, have filed similar visa requests for DEI positions, including Carnegie Mellon University and Dartmouth College.

However, the H-1B to DEI office pipeline isn’t just isolated to higher academia: “Examples range from large banks and law firms to universities, healthcare systems, and even municipal park districts,” Sen. Schmitt states. “Obviously, DEI positions are plainly non-technical and ideological in nature, and appear to fall outside the ‘specialty occupation’ intent of the H-1B statute.”

“More to the point, in light of everything we know about DEI, it’s alarming that American employers appear to be importing foreign workers to work in these roles—placing non-Americans in positions where they are tasked with policing the speech and thought of our own citizens,” Schmitt warns.

Following his office’s investigation, the Missouri Senator is requesting USCIS issue guidance “clarifying that positions relating to DEI… do not qualify as H-1B specialty occupations” and “provide my office with a full report and a briefing on approved H-1B petitions in DEI-tagged roles for FY2021–FY2024.” Additionally, Schmitt is asking USCIS to “conduct a focused review of approvals over the aforementioned time period to identify DEI-tagged cases and take appropriate corrective action.”

I’m looking forward to working with USCIS and the rest of the Trump administration to fix this.

You can read my full letter to USCIS Director Edlow below.https://t.co/3tqlYv9Wpm pic.twitter.com/kfuO4LUDj2

— Senator Eric Schmitt (@SenEricSchmitt) September 25, 2025

Image by Gage Skidmore.

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