US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), under the leadership of the Trump administration, has been challenging a significant number of visa applications for skilled workers since President Trump vowed to investigate the “fraud and abuse” of the H-1B visa program by American-based companies this past April. Although neither the Trump administration nor Congress have instituted any changes to the H-1B program, data provided by USCIS reveals that the agency has issued 85,000 challenges, or “requests for evidence” (RFE’s), regarding H-1B visa petitions between January 1st and August 31st of this year. This is a forty-five percent increase since the same period of time last year. These RFE’s have also been issued at a rate greater than any point during the Obama administration, apart from 2009. RFE's can delay cases by months, and often interfere with hiring plans and business operations for American companies.