A Massachusetts technology job posting has drawn attention from the U.S. Department of Justice after it appeared to specifically seek an H-1B visa holder, raising fresh questions about recruitment practices that could potentially limit access to jobs based on immigration status or national origin.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, Harmeet Dhillon, said the department is reviewing the posting along with other examples of alleged discrimination in employment.
“We are reviewing this and countless other examples of American employers engaging in alleged national origin discrimination,” Dhillon wrote on X. “And we will stop it, together with colleagues” at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the U.S. Department of Labor.
Dhillon made the statement while resharing a post that highlighted a recruitment email for a Citrix administration position in Burlington, Massachusetts. The role was listed as an onsite, long-term contract position requiring more than 10 years of experience.
The recruitment email, dated Aug. 24, included a prominent requirement: “Need H1b.”
The same phrase also appeared in the job description attached to the email.
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The posting was sent by Varshendra Chaturvedi of Next Level Business Services Inc. The company describes itself as a global technology and business transformation company providing IT consulting, digital talent solutions and recruitment process outsourcing services. The publicly shared email identifies Chaturvedi as the sender of the recruitment message for the Burlington position.
The role sought a candidate with extensive experience in Citrix XenApp/XenDesktop, remote access gateways and Netscaler. Other requirements included experience with Windows Server, Active Directory, SQL, DNS, DHCP and application deployment, along with network administration experience.
The recruitment message was circulated among contacts looking for IT and technology opportunities, with Chaturvedi asking interested candidates to share their updated resumes. The email also encouraged recipients to refer friends or colleagues who might be interested.
The wording around the H-1B requirement was what caught wider attention online.
The user whose post was reshared by Dhillon described the recruitment practice as a separate channel through which certain U.S. jobs could reach visa holders before being widely advertised.
“This is exactly what the American tech workforce is competing against,” the user wrote. “A hidden recruitment network where U.S. jobs circulate through visa-targeted channels before most Americans ever know they exist.”
The post then pointed directly to the Burlington opening, arguing that the recruiter did not simply state that qualified candidates were needed but instead wrote, “Need H1b.”
However, the publicly available material does not establish that the H-1B requirement was an official policy of Tata Consultancy Services or that TCS itself authored the recruitment email. The screenshot identifies the opportunity as a TCS role, but the message was sent by Chaturvedi from Next Level Business Services Inc.
It also remains unclear from the posting why H-1B status was listed as a requirement or whether candidates with other forms of valid U.S. work authorization were considered.
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That distinction could be significant as federal officials examine the matter.
The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division has jurisdiction over certain forms of employment discrimination, including cases involving national origin. Dhillon’s statement suggests that the department’s interest extends beyond this individual job posting, as she referred to “countless other examples” that officials are reviewing.
The controversy also touches on a broader debate surrounding H-1B workers and hiring in the U.S. technology industry. Companies regularly hire foreign workers through the H-1B program, while MAGA supporters have repeatedly raised concerns about whether visa-related recruitment practices can disadvantage U.S. workers.
For now, the Burlington job posting has become another example cited in the growing debate over how H-1B status is used in technology recruitment.
Dhillon’s response indicates that federal civil rights officials are taking a closer look at such practices and whether recruitment language that appears to favor a particular immigration status crosses the line into unlawful discrimination.