On February 19, the EEOC, through its acting chair Andrea Lucas, pledged rigorous enforcement of civil rights laws against companies that show bias for foreign workers, including visa holders, over US citizens. The change comes amidst the Trump Administration’s wider focus away from protecting immigrants and other demographic groups that have been historically viewed as primary targets of discrimination.

In Lucas’ view, discrimination against American nationals is a “large scale problem.” She further claimed that employers in multiple industries have policies and preferences that prefer immigrants over American nationals. Lucas argued that employers might illegally prefer “non-American workers” because of perceptions that their labor costs are lower, that they are more easily exploited, or that foreign workers have a better work ethic. However, none of these “excuses” are valid reasons to favor any national origin group over another, including American nationals, according to Lucas.

Title VII’s provisions, which cover national origin but not citizenship, have not typically been used to pursue claims of favoritism toward non-American workers. However, there are recent examples where the EEOC has taken analogous positions in enforcing laws against national original discrimination. In February 2025, a major hotel in Guam paid $1.4 million to settle an EEOC claim alleging unlawful preferences for Japanese applicants and employees over American nationals. In August 2024, a California laundry facility agreed to pay $1.1 million to settle an EEOC claim alleging discrimination against non-Hispanic applicants, which constituted an illegal preference based on race and national origin.

Employers should review their hiring and employment policies and practices to ensure that preferences are not given to a particular group over another. Job postings and unofficial policies that disproportionately favor immigrants, H1-B visas, or nationals of certain countries will likely be considered illegal discrimination by the new administration. This may be particularly prevalent in certain industries that have historically been supported by worldwide talent.  Especially for those employers, we recommend working with your employment counsel to conduct a privileged audit of such hiring and retention practices before they are targeted as a part of this new wave of enforcement actions.

Ballard Spahr’s Labor and Employment Group frequently advises employers on issues related to labor employment and policy. We will continue to monitor the new administration’s agenda and the impact of further anti-discrimination laws and interpretation. Please contact us if we can assist you with these matters.