How Patriot Pledge ratings work

What we measure

Patriot Pledge evaluates corporate employment practices with an emphasis on domestic workforce priority. Scorecards highlight e-Verify participation, visa sponsorship intensity (including H-1B utilization), and related hiring patterns that affect American workers and local communities.

Core data sources

• Federal e-Verify participation records — signals whether an employer uses the government’s employment eligibility verification system.
• Visa sponsorship volumes — including H-1B and related filings that indicate reliance on foreign labor pipelines.
• Proprietary investigative research — on-the-ground verification when public records are incomplete, outdated, or require deeper context.

How the scorecard is built

We normalize available records into comparable metrics, then combine them into a rating that answers a practical question: does this firm’s operating model prioritize domestic citizens, or does it shift economic opportunity abroad?

Ratings are designed to be actionable for consumers, workers, and community advocates—not academic jargon. Each scorecard is meant to support informed decisions about where to shop, work, and invest attention.

1. Collect and validate

We ingest public government datasets and validate entity matching so filings map to the correct businesses on the map.

2. Quantify hiring signals

We analyze domestic hiring indicators, visa dependency ratios, and compliance-related signals that appear in the verified record set.

Regional pattern analysis

Individual business records only tell part of the story. Patriot Pledge also aggregates the average ratio of migrant labor to total roles across a defined geographic area—by neighborhood, corridor, or labor market—to determine whether a broader pattern is emerging.

When one employer in an area participates in e-Verify and shows moderate, verified visa labor use, but surrounding businesses do not participate in e-Verify and show little or questionable visa activity on the public record, that contrast can signal under-reporting. The compliant firm may be accurately disclosing what others are not. That mismatch often points to a larger trend operating beneath the surface of publicly available data.

We treat these geographic clusters as analytical units, not isolated scorecards. A single outlier with strong verification can sharpen scrutiny of nearby employers whose records look artificially clean.

Machine learning trend detection

Patriot Pledge applies advanced machine learning analysis techniques to uncover these regional patterns, score their confidence, and track how often they recur nationwide. Models compare visa-to-workforce ratios, e-Verify participation gaps, and neighboring business behavior to flag areas where public filings likely understate migrant labor reliance.

When the models surface a high-confidence pattern, it feeds investigative prioritization: Patriot Investigative Units can focus field research where algorithmic signals and public records diverge most sharply. Findings then flow back into the ranking system so local anomalies and national trends stay visible over time.

3. Investigate when needed

When gaps remain—or when patterns warrant deeper scrutiny—Patriot Investigative Units gather additional field intelligence to refine the scorecard.

4. Publish and refine

Scorecards are published on the map and continuously refined as new businesses are ingested and as our ranking algorithm improves.

What ratings are not

Patriot Pledge is not a political party, a government agency, or a substitute for legal advice. Ratings summarize employment-practice signals from available data and research. They should be read alongside your own judgment and local knowledge.

Continuous improvement

Our ranking algorithm, coverage map, and investigative priorities evolve as we expand business ingestion and improve data quality. Support from donors helps fund the infrastructure and research required to keep ratings current.