By April, federal H-1B investigations had spiked at least 48% since Project Firewall launched last year.

Now the DOL is issuing subpoenas to build up the case against H-1B visa and PERM fraud. Doing it this way ensures the findings are serious, so the consequences can stick. Under Trump, HUD and SBA have cut H-1B access to business and housing loans, the old H-1B lottery has been scrapped, and DOL is trying to raise the wage floor.

In other words, the entire executive branch is trying to restrict H-1B. The H-1B visa program can only be ended by Congress, and the options to reject renewals is extremely constrained, so this is the best way to choke it for now.