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yteDance, the Chinese company that owns the video platform TikTok, is increasingly bringing foreign nationals to work in the U.S. through foreign worker programs overseen by the Department of Homeland Security, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.
This year alone, ByteDance was employing 579 foreign workers through the H-1B program, an increase from previous years, wrote Jon Feere, the center’s director of investigations, in a new report.
The nonprofit, nonpartisan center – which says it “seeks fewer immigrants but a warmer welcome for those admitted – also obtained information through a Freedom of Information Act request showing ByteDance has hired more foreign workers through the controversial Optional Practical Training program.
That program allows foreign nationals on foreign student visas to work for up to six years beyond graduation.
“ByteDance executives say TikTok stores all U.S. user data in Virginia and Singapore and that the TikTok organization in the United States is independent from China,” wrote Feere.
“The claim of independence is difficult to square with the fact that citizens of China are working for the company inside the United States. These foreign workers maintain their Chinese citizenship and are to return back to the homeland when their visas expire.”
