A group opposed to U.S. immigration policies has papered Bay Area BART stations and trains with hundreds of ads critical of the H-1B visa program, targeting their message at local tech workers.

“Your companies think you are expensive, undeserving & expendable,” say the ads, paid for by Progressives for Immigration Reform. “Congress, fix H-1B law so companies must seek & hire U.S. workers!”

The H-1B visa, intended for highly skilled workers with specialized knowledge, has become a flashpoint in the immigration debate, with critics charging it is abused and allows foreign citizens to take jobs from U.S. workers.

BART said that Progressives for Immigration Reform spent $80,000 on the ad campaign, which is to run through mid-April. The group bought more than 250 panel ads and 100 smaller in-train ads, which will be seen on both sides of the Bay, a BART spokesperson said.

“BART does not endorse these ads,” the transportation agency said in a statement. “BART is a safe and welcoming system for all people.”

But the messaging complies with free speech laws, the agency said.

“BART must post these ads to comply with the law,” the agency said. “Court rulings reinforce the fact that we can’t deny the ads.”

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One man at San Francisco’s Civic Center BART station said the ads appeared designed to fuel animosity between U.S. and foreign workers. “It seems misplaced and it seems like it’s probably going to be ineffective and it seems like the purpose of it is to get people mad,” said the man, who declined to be identified because he said he is in the U.S. on a work visa and authorities announced in September they were expanding monitoring of non-citizens. “Most of the people I know in San Francisco are incredibly pro-immigration.”

Kevin Lynn, executive director of Progressives for Information Reform, said the goal of the ad campaign is to call attention to abuses in the H-1B program that disadvantage workers in science, technology, math and engineering fields.

“My hope is that the ads will be successful in not only informing on the H-1B program but driving discussions that will lead to a movement that will unite tech workers to end the predatory aspects of the program,” Lynn said via email.

His group seeks to “educate the public on the unintended consequences of mass migration,” according to its website.

Lynn said outsourcing firms were “taking advantage” of loopholes in the H-1B visa program, which the federal government says is reserved for workers with “highly specialized knowledge” in occupations requiring a bachelor’s degree or higher. A number of reports have alleged that American workers, before being laid off, have been forced to train H-1B-holding replacements provided by outsourcing companies. In 2016, UC San Francisco admitted outsourcing IT jobs, with public records showing it was considering replacing some workers with H-1B holders and lower-paid workers hired through an Indian outsourcing firm. Thirteen UCSF employees subsequently sued the system’s regents.

Some H-1B holders are “being sponsored by U.S. companies to compete directly with our college graduates looking for STEM careers,” Lynn said.

Lynn also pointed out that H-1B workers are tied to the company that hires them, and can be deported if they’re terminated.

“To me that smacks of indentured servitude as opposed to employment,” Lynn said.