Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said the department will not accept new or process pending permanent-labor certifications for Microsoft, Adobe and seven IT services firms. Vice President JD Vance also said nine universities are under investigation.
The U.S. Labor Department on Thursday suspended Microsoft, Adobe and seven information-technology firms from the permanent labor certification process used for many employment-based green cards. Vice President JD Vance announced the step at a news conference on anti-fraud work, and Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said the department would not accept new applications or process pending ones involving the named companies.
Sonderling said the suspension also covers Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini. He said those firms had since 2009 sought almost three million foreign workers and had received more than 230,000 H-1B approvals and more than 100,000 permanent labor certifications. Reuters reported that Project Firewall has opened about 200 cases.
Vance said no company had abused the system more than Microsoft. He said the company laid off 6,000 American workers last year while receiving 6,300 H-1B visas and nearly 3,000 green cards. Microsoft said about 80 percent of the H-1B applications it filed in the last fiscal year were extensions or status changes for current employees, not new hires, and that it pays H-1B employees the same as comparable staff. In July it said it would cut 4,800 jobs, about 2.1 percent of its global workforce.
Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, HCL, Wipro and Capgemini did not immediately comment, Reuters said. Tata Consultancy Services declined to comment. India's industry body Nasscom said Indian tech companies in the United States had reduced reliance on H-1B visas and that relatively few of their workers sought green cards through PERM.
Vance also said nine universities, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown and MIT, would be investigated over exchange-visitor visas. Labor Inspector General Anthony D'Esposito said subpoenas had been served. Vance said the company suspensions would last as long as needed.
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- JD Vance said Microsoft had abused the system more than any other company and should hire American workers.
- Keith Sonderling said the department will not accept new or process pending permanent labor certifications for the named firms.
- Microsoft said most of its recent H-1B filings were for current employees and that those workers are paid the same as comparable staff.