What Employers Need to Know About Project Firewall

On November 19, 2025, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released new and updated educational materials on National Origin Discrimination:

• A new technical assistance document:
  “Discrimination Against American Workers Is Against The Law”: a concise one-page guide to help workers understand their rights and protections against national origin discrimination. You can find a copy on the EEOC website.
• An updated national origin discrimination landing page
  This resource hub now includes expanded guidance for both workers and employers, examples of unlawful practices, and links to federal partners such as the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.

Managing Consultant Phil Akroyd wrote a blog about this on 11/21/2025, you can read more here: National Origin Guidance For Employers Blog

Building on the EEOC release of these two technical assistance documents, on November 24, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced that its formally joined forces with the EEOC under Project Firewall, a nationwide initiative intended to protect the rights, wages, and job opportunities of American workers. Project Firewall aims to 1) Ensure employers prioritize qualified U.S. workers when filling highly skilled roles 2) Investigate and hold accountable employers who violate H-1B program rules 3) Protect wages and job opportunities for American workers.

Violations of Project Firewall can result in:

• Back wages are owed to affected workers.
• Civil penalties for employers.
• Debarment from future participation in the H-1B program

The strengthened partnership involves not only the DOL and EEOC but also the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Together, these agencies are aligning enforcement tools, sharing data, and coordinating guidance to prevent practices such as:

• Job ads that prioritize H-1B or other visa statuses
• Screening practices that disadvantage U.S. candidates
• Disparate promotion pathways
• Harassment or retaliation tied to national origin

As the DOL stated, this “whole-of-government” effort is about safeguarding opportunity and ensuring the integrity of the labor market.

With agencies working more closely than ever, organizations may see increased inquiries into hiring practices involving visa preferences or potential H-1B misuse from multiple federal agencies. More importantly, the EEOC’s updated guidance reminds employers that certain business rationales, whether cost savings or market assumptions, do not justify discriminatory practices under Title VII.

This is a time when employers should pause to examine their processes with clarity and care. Now is the perfect time to:

• Review hiring, recruiting, and promotion practices, especially where visa status is referenced
• Evaluate job postings for visa-preference language
  • Don’t assume your vendors are compliant. Staffing firms and contracting partners can expose your organization to significant risks. If they use risky job ad language, it can still reflect on you.
• Conduct privileged audits of selection, promotion, pay, and workforce demographics
• Train HR and hiring managers on Title VII protections related to national origin projections
• Document legitimate, job-related selection criteria consistently and contemporaneously

These steps not only reduce risk, but they elevate the employee experience and reinforce a culture of integrity.

Project Firewall is a clear message from the federal government that American workers must have a fair chance to compete. This doesn’t mean employers can’t hire global talents. It simply means hiring decisions should be based on skills, qualifications, and legitimate business needs and not visa status or assumptions.