The Labor Department halted new and pending PERM applications for Microsoft, Adobe and seven IT services firms, and said nine universities face probes over exchange-visitor visas.
The United States on Thursday suspended Microsoft, Adobe and several large IT services companies from a main employer green-card route. Reuters reported that the Labor Department will not accept new Permanent Labor Certification applications, known as PERM, from the named firms and will not process pending ones.
Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said the suspension also covers Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini. Vice President JD Vance said nine universities, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, would be investigated over alleged misuse of exchange-visitor visas.
The move follows a White House proclamation that put a 100,000 dollar fee on fresh H-1B petitions, Reuters reported. Officials said Project Firewall has opened about 200 cases and levied millions of dollars in penalties. Vance said, without citing specific evidence in the Reuters account, that companies were using PERM to replace American workers.
PERM is the labor-certification step employers use before sponsoring many skilled workers for permanent residence. Reuters said the suspension applies to new and pending applications involving the named companies, not to every employer in the program.
The companies had not, in the reports cited here, published a detailed response with case counts. The practical effect is a halt on those firms' PERM pipeline while the university inquiries proceed.
People Sentiments Negative
- JD Vance said Microsoft should hire American workers.
- Reuters reported that Vance did not cite specific evidence for the wage-undercutting claim in the remarks it quoted.