A fresh controversy around H-1B hiring has surfaced online, coming close on the heels of action by the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. The agency recently confirmed a $313,420 settlement with Compunnel over discriminatory hiring practices.
According to officials, the company violated the Immigration and Nationality Act by posting job advertisements that imposed unlawful citizenship-based restrictions. As part of the settlement, Compunnel will pay $58,000 in back pay to a US citizen who was allegedly denied consideration for a Python developer role due to his citizenship status, along with $255,420 in civil penalties to the US Treasury. The firm has also agreed to take corrective steps, including training and monitoring its recruiters and strengthening internal compliance systems, underlining how closely authorities are now watching hiring practices tied to visa preferences.
Now, another job listing is drawing attention on social media. The post, highlighted by a user named KumarXclusive, claims that some recruiters are openly favoring specific candidates. It read, “See this, Indians are posting job ads in America 🇺🇸 only for Indians and saying fcuk off to Americans in America 🇺🇸
Why are they poking Americans in America? And how long?
Put a permanent BAN on these recruiters or H-1B body-shops”
The claim was shared alongside a screenshot of a LinkedIn post by Keerthana V, identified as a Talent Acquisition Specialist. The listing was for a Network Engineer role based in Plano. In the post, she wrote, “only H1-B Rate 58/HR on C2C Share resumes to keerthana.v@hirexa.com”
READ: DOJ fines Compunnel $313K after ‘H-1B visa only’ job ad exposed by Sara Gonzales (
The wording of the job post quickly drew criticism. Reacting to it on X, one user reshared the screenshot and wrote, “O nice discrimination we have there Keerthana V. Actively breaking the law and if she is on a visa it needs to be revoked immediately.”
The company mentioned in the post, Hirexa Solutions, is a global technology talent acquisition and staffing firm with operations across the United States, the UK, Europe, and India.
The incident adds to a growing online narrative questioning whether certain job postings are excluding local applicants.
At the same time, immigration experts have repeatedly pointed out that US labor laws prohibit discriminatory hiring practices based on citizenship or visa status, unless there is a legitimate legal requirement. As debates intensify, cases like these are moving from niche industry concerns to viral flashpoints, feeding into a broader political and economic conversation around immigration, jobs, and fairness in hiring.