WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — The Trump administration suspended processing of employment-based labor certification applications from Microsoft, Adobe and six major IT companies Thursday, citing alleged fraud and concerns about displacement of American workers.
Vice President JD Vance announced the Microsoft action at a White House news conference. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said the suspension also covers Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini.
“We will not accept any new or process any pending permanent labor certification applications involving these companies,” Sonderling said, according to Reuters.
The action targets the Labor Department’s Permanent Labor Certification program, known as PERM, a prerequisite for many employment-based green cards. Employers must demonstrate that qualified American workers are unavailable and that hiring a foreign worker would not adversely affect U.S. wages or working conditions.
The announcement concerns green card sponsorship, rather than a blanket cancellation of existing H-1B visas. Vance accused Microsoft of obtaining foreign-worker approvals while laying off employees. His allegations do not establish that the company committed fraud.
Microsoft and most of the other affected companies did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. Tata Consultancy Services declined to comment.
The administration also announced investigations into nine universities over alleged misuse of J-1 exchange-visitor visas. The institutions include Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Separately, the Department of Homeland Security proposed charging schools seventy thousand dollars for each student’s initial Optional Practical Training recommendation and thirty thousand dollars for subsequent recommendations. OPT allows eligible international students to work in their fields of study. Those proposed fees have not taken effect.
