The Donald Trump administration has suspended Microsoft, Adobe, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies and several other major Indian IT companies and prominent technology firms from the green card sponsorship program.
US Vice President JD Vance said evidence of alleged fraud had emerged during investigations, including cases in which companies laid off employees while simultaneously filing applications for permanent residency, or green cards, for foreign workers. “Microsoft is a great American company, but it has to employ great American workers,” he said.
According to Reuters, the Trump administration has expanded its crackdown on immigration policies concerning skilled foreign workers, halting action on certain green card applications involving Microsoft, Adobe and major IT outsourcing companies, while also launching investigations into nine prominent universities, including Harvard, Yale and Stanford.
According to the news agency, the US administration says the measures are aimed at addressing alleged fraud in visa programmes and concerns that American citizens’ jobs are being harmed. The two measures are being described as among the broadest actions yet against immigration programmes for skilled foreign workers, potentially affecting the usual pathway to permanent residency for thousands of foreign technology workers.
The administration has also warned prominent research universities, with the measures coming at a time when the Trump administration is maintaining close ties with leaders of the same technology companies.
US Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said the decision to halt processing of green card applications would apply not only to Microsoft and Adobe but also to Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini.
He said new permanent labor certification applications from these companies would not be accepted, while pending applications would also not be processed.
US Vice President JD Vance further said investigations would be conducted into nine universities, including Harvard, Yale and Stanford. The administration alleges that these universities misused exchange visitor visa programmes in ways that affected the wages of American workers.
The US Department of Labor’s permanent labor certification programme is known as PERM, which is required for most employment-based green card applications.
Under the process, companies must demonstrate that employing a foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages, working conditions or employment opportunities of US workers. Once an application is approved, the case is forwarded to US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
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