India, Sept. 6 -- US immigration officials have uncovered H-1B petitions in Nebraska that listed workers as computer programmers even though site visits and interviews showed they were performing higher-paying engineering work, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services said.

USCIS said the misclassification allowed the employer to pay lower wages than those associated with the workers' actual duties, creating what the agency described as unfair competition for US workers. The agency said it coordinated with federal partners to end the practice and protect American workers from unfair wage and hiring practices.

The disclosure comes as the Trump administration steps up scrutiny of the H-1B program, with federal agencies increasingly exa...