Data publicly tracked online reveals the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) hired more than 60 foreign nationals for its Arizona factories using the H-1B visa program. The company was given billions under President Joe Biden through the CHIPS Act, including $6.6 billion in November.
According to the h1bdata.info website, data released by the U.S. Department of Labor reveals TSMC’s Arizona corporation hired at least 58 foreign employees through the H-1B visa program implemented by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
However, the website h1bgrader, which additionally tracks data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, shows TSMC has applied for a total of 69 H-1B visas to recruit foreign workers to its Arizona factories, including 40 applications in 2024 alone. It withdrew just seven applications, while none were denied – suggesting 62 of the work visas were granted.
While Biden administration DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas stated this month that the program is designed to help companies recruit “highly-skilled talent,” the public data about TSMC’s use of H-1B visas reveals foreign workers were hired for jobs that do not appear to be specialized.
These include financial positions, with foreign workers reportedly brought to the United States through the H-1B program to work Financial Accountant and Senior Financial Accountant positions, and a third to be a Cash Management Specialist for TSMC.
Another was reportedly hired to work for TSMC as an IT Support Engineer, while the company also used the H-1B program to hire a Human Resource Specialist. Two more foreign workers were reportedly recruited by TSMC, through the H-1B program, to work as a Legal Counsel and In House Legal Counsel.
The Arizona Sun Times contacted TSMC to confirm the accuracy of the data tracked by h1b1data.info, to verify the 58 foreign workers hired through the H-1B program remain employed at the company, and to ask the company why it hired foreign workers for positions including accountants and cash management specialists, but did not receive an immediate response.
TSMC is currently being sued by a group of Arizona workers who allege the Taiwanese company illegally discriminates against American citizens through policies designed to attract employees who are of Chinese or Taiwanese descent, with the company’s foreign workers allegedly resorting to “verbal abuse, gaslighting, isolation, and humiliation,” in order to compel American workers to quit.
Earlier this year, reports surfaced indicating Taiwanese citizens are taking jobs at TSMC’s facilities in Arizona with the express purpose of expanding their families while in the United States, ensuring their children will be granted American citizenship at birth.
Recently released polling by Rasmussen Reports found 60 percent of Americans say the country should stop recruiting foreign workers through the H-1B program, with the United States already boasting “enough talented people to train and recruit” for middle class jobs.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “TSMC Workers” by TSMC.
