A local competitor newspaper appears to be using H-1B visa labor amid a national debate on the immigration program’s merits.
The Dallas Morning News (DMN) applied to hire a full-stack developer for $120,000 in May 2024, the website H-1B Salary Database revealed.
This new employee appears to be one of three H-1B workers listed as working for The Dallas Morning News Inc. in 2024 on the H-1B Employer Data Hub, available on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website.
DMN has used foreign labor for years, and the company has apparently applied for H-1B visas for what appear to be essentially entry-level jobs. H-1B Data’s catalog shows that DMN has submitted applications for roles with titles such as “visual journalist,” “staff writer,” “city reporter,” and “data analyst” since 2021. The pay for these roles was listed as $44,000, $57,000, $57,000, and $74,000, respectively.
A full-stack developer is a software engineer position typically focused on developing both user interface and server software for websites.
“Full-stack developers are adept at handling multiple aspects of a project, from user interface design to server-side scripting and database management,” a description of duties on the Amazon Web Services website says.
An index of full-stack developer salaries provided by the job board website Indeed indicates that this salary is slightly below the national average of $125,000 for the same position at other organizations.
It is unclear what specialization this job required that made the importation of labor necessary.
The University of Texas at Austin, the University of Texas at Dallas, and Texas State University offer Full Stack Software Development programs.
Texas is home to a substantial portion of America’s tech industry, and many computer-minded Texas high school students begin learning full-stack development at summer camps in high school.
The Department of Labor’s website indicates that the H-1B program is supposed to help employers fill gaps where they cannot find native-born American employees with a specialized skill set.
“The intent of the H-1B provisions is to help employers who cannot otherwise obtain needed business skills and abilities from the U.S. workforce by authorizing the temporary employment of qualified individuals who are not otherwise authorized to work in the United States,” the government agency says.
Moreover, it is unclear who the H-1B visa holders at the company are and what specialties they have. Two LinkedIn accounts claim to be full-stack developers for the Dallas Morning News. One appears to have received their education in Morocco, while the other records substantial work in Thailand before joining DMN. However, neither person discloses their citizenship status on their profile, and their employment dates do not align with the 2024 H-1B visa application recorded by H-1B Data.
“This website indexes the Labor Condition Application (LCA) disclosure data from the United States Department of Labor (DOL). Prior to filing an H-1B petition with the USCIS, an employer must file an LCA with the DOL. An LCA is used by employers as supporting evidence for the petition for an H-1B visa,” H-1B Data says of its search results. “DOL disclosure data does not indicate the employer’s intended use for the LCA.”
“The minimum educational level acceptable for H-1B status is a bachelor’s degree in the field of the proposed employment,” per UC Berkley.
Mubarak Law explains on its blog that 65,000 H-1B visas are granted every year, with an additional 20,000 visas available for foreigners with master’s degrees.
Prospective foreign employees of American companies must be sponsored by the company they intend to work for to be eligible for the visas.
The UC Berkley International Office describes the program “as an employer-sponsored nonimmigrant classification which allows persons who are not citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. to work in a specialty occupation for up to six years with very limited exceptions.”
The H-1B program was signed into law by George H.W. Bush in 1990, and supporters, such as Vivek Ramaswamy, argue that it is necessary because native-born Americans enjoy “mediocrity” and do not value education enough.
“Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long (at least since the 90s and likely longer). That doesn’t start in college, it starts YOUNG,” Ramaswamy posted on X during an online firestorm over H-1B visas in the next administration. “A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers.”
Ramaswamy cited portrayals of smart students in TV sitcoms such as “Boy Meets World,” “Saved By The Bell,” and “Family Matters” to buttress his point, as previously reported on by The Dallas Express.
Opponents of H-1B point to high-profile abuse of the program.
“Megyn Kelly asked about highly-skilled immigration. The H-1B program is neither high-skilled nor immigration: these are temporary foreign workers, imported from abroad, for the explicit purpose of substituting for American workers at lower pay,” then-candidate Trump said during his first presidential bid in 2016.
Trump then telegraphed an interest in changing the program.
“I remain totally committed to eliminating rampant, widespread H-1B abuse and ending outrageous practices such as those that occurred at Disney in Florida when Americans were forced to train their foreign replacements. I will end forever the use of the H-1B as a cheap labor program, and institute an absolute requirement to hire American workers first for every visa and immigration program. No exceptions,” he concluded.
Both Republican and Democratic administrations have tacitly acknowledged the abuse. Trump attempted to combat H-1B fraud through executive orders in 2017. Likewise, the Biden administration issued a new rule in mid-December 2024 that purportedly increased oversight while allowing companies to “retain [more] talented [foreign] workers.”
After Christmas, social media platform X was consumed by a heated exchange on the matter. X’s owner, Elon Musk, defended the program, while many of his critics claimed they were de-badged and demonetized for disagreeing with the billionaire, The Dallas Express reported.
Grant Moise, the CEO of DMN, was contacted for comment during the production of this story, but he did not respond by the time of publication.