A New Jersey-based professional services provider, Compunnel Software Group Inc, suffered a major blow earlier this week as the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division announced that it had imposed a $313,420 fine on the tech firm.
According to a news release by the US Justice Department, the action was triggered by allegations that the company violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) due to its bias against American workers and preference for H-1B visa holders in job advertisements.
“The explicitly discriminatory language in some of the ads excluded US citizens and Permanent Residents from consideration for desirable employment opportunities while favouring those with H-1B or other temporary visas,” stated the DOJ release.
MAGA influencer says her exposé of ‘H-1B visa only’ hiring ads spurred legal action
Texas-based political commentator and influencer Sara Gonzales, who has been focused on exposing instances of suspected visa abuse in the US, also brought the issue to attention on social media. Taking to her X profile, she claimed that the US Justice Department initiated the action against the tech firm after her report on the “illegal discrimination against American workers.” As highlighted in her post, Compunnel happens to be one of the companies she “exposed.”
“Compunnel Software Group, Inc now has to cough up $313,420 after some of its recruiters posted job advertisements for positions in the United States that were offered to H-1B workers ONLY,” she added in her post.
Gonzales also plugged her video from February, wherein she red-flagged a LinkedIn hiring post by a user named Arti Sharma, who is believed to be professionally linked to Compunnel owing to her work email ID mentioned in the post. Shared to recruit a Java Developer, the post said the ideal candidate should have more than 10 years of experience and be “H1B Visa only.”
Her clip eventually jumps forward to April 2026, turning the spotlight onto the same DOJ news release announcing the settlement with Compunnel.
Details of Compunnel settlement after H-1B hiring controversy
Having noted numerous such “H-1B visa only” hiring posts online, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division addressed the issue, saying, “It’s illegal to discourage US workers from applying for American jobs.”
“Employers cannot exclude US workers from the labour force by discriminating against them based on their citizenship status. Employers must design recruitment, training, and compliance practices to ensure adherence to federal civil rights laws.”
According to the DOJ, Compunnel has agreed to pay $58,000 in “back pay to the Charging Party, a US Citizen.” The individual in question was not considered for a position like Python Developer based on his citizenship status. Additionally, the company has agreed to pay civil penalties worth $255,420 to the US Treasury. The firm is also believed to have already taken steps to prevent “future discrimination.”
The Compunnel case marks the ninth settlement since the DOJ re-launched its Protecting US Workers Initiative in 2025 as part of its efforts to keep companies in check if they illegally discriminate against Americans in favour of candidates with employment visas.