By GAWAH News Desk | October 9, 2026
The Trump administration’s suspension of eight major technology companies from the US employment-based green-card labour-certification process has triggered a political and industry dispute over whether the move protects American workers or risks making it harder for skilled foreign professionals to secure permanent residency.
The companies named are Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, HCLTech and Capgemini. The action concerns the Department of Labor’s Permanent Labor Certification programme, known as PERM, an important step in many employer-sponsored green-card cases. It is not a blanket suspension of all US green cards or an automatic cancellation of existing H-1B visas. Reuters report | TechCrunch
JD Vance: ‘You’ve got to hire great American workers’
Vice President JD Vance defended the decision by accusing technology companies of relying on foreign workers while laying off Americans. “Our message to Microsoft is: You’re a great American company, but you’ve got to hire great American workers,” he said, according to Reuters.
Vance cited Microsoft’s layoffs alongside its use of H-1B visas and green cards. The administration says the action is intended to protect US workers and investigate alleged misuse of immigration programmes. Those allegations should not be treated as a judicial finding that every named company committed fraud.
Microsoft: Most H-1B filings were for existing employees
Microsoft said that the vast majority of its US employees are Americans and that it would provide the administration with additional information. The company said about 80% of the approximately 6,000 H-1B applications it submitted in the previous fiscal year were to extend or change the status of existing employees, not to hire new people. It said the remaining filings for new employees concerned people already legally in the United States and amounted to about 1% of its US workforce.
The company also said it files H-1B petitions only for people who meet the visa category’s requirements and pays H-1B workers comparable compensation to employees doing comparable work. Adobe had not immediately responded to a request for comment in TechCrunch’s report.
Pramila Jayapal: ‘You don’t fix a broken immigration system by taking a hammer to legal immigration’
Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal criticised the suspension, arguing that it undermines legal immigration pathways and America’s ability to attract international talent. “You don’t fix a broken immigration system by taking a hammer to legal immigration,” she said in remarks reported by India Today.
Jayapal said the PERM process provides a framework intended to protect US workers while allowing eligible foreign professionals to pursue permanent residency. Her criticism centres on whether a broad suspension is the right response to allegations involving employers.
Doug Rand: The move could make workers more dependent on employers
Doug Rand, a former senior adviser at US Citizenship and Immigration Services, called the announcement “incoherent” in comments reported by The Washington Post. He argued that blocking employers from helping H-1B workers obtain green cards could leave those workers more dependent on their employers.
“Once you have a green card, you’re no longer dependent on your employer for your immigration status — you’re a permanent resident who can change jobs and negotiate higher wages without fear,” Rand said.
Vivek Wadhwa: Focus on intermediaries accused of abusing the system
Indian-American entrepreneur and technology commentator Vivek Wadhwa argued that large technology companies are not necessarily the main source of visa abuse and that enforcement should focus on staffing intermediaries and recruiters that exploit the system.
“America has enjoyed the greatest free lunch in history: highly educated, highly skilled immigrants bringing their talent to its shores,” Wadhwa said in comments reported by The Times of India. He warned that turning away skilled immigrants could undermine the advantages the United States has gained from attracting global talent.
Nasscom: Immigration and talent mobility are distinct issues
India’s technology industry association Nasscom said immigration and skilled talent mobility are “two distinct issues” and should not be viewed through the same lens. It said Indian technology companies have reduced their dependence on H-1B visas while expanding local hiring in the United States.
The industry’s concern is that restrictions affecting one permanent-residency pathway could create uncertainty for individual workers and complicate long-term workforce planning, even if the immediate operational impact on some companies is limited.
TCS says business strategy will not be affected
Tata Consultancy Services said it does not expect the suspension to affect its workforce strategy or customer engagements. The company said its PERM applications had been in the single digits over the previous two years and pointed to its focus on local hiring in the US.
That response suggests the near-term effect may vary considerably by employer. For individual employees whose cases depend on a new or pending PERM filing, however, the suspension could still create uncertainty. The impact will depend on the exact scope and duration of the action and the stage of each case.
What it means for Indian professionals in the US
The suspension does not, by itself, cancel existing H-1B visas or mean that every Indian professional employed by a named company must leave the United States. PERM is a labour-certification stage in many employer-sponsored green-card cases, while H-1B is a separate temporary work status.
Workers with pending or planned PERM cases may face delays or be unable to begin that step while the suspension remains in force. The effect on any individual depends on their immigration status, the stage of their case and the formal terms of the government action. Affected workers should seek advice from a qualified US immigration lawyer rather than assume that their status has automatically changed.
A debate over jobs, enforcement and global talent
The administration argues that employers must not use foreign-worker programmes to undercut Americans and says the suspension is part of a wider enforcement effort. Critics counter that a company-wide restriction can affect workers who have complied with the rules and may make the United States less attractive to highly skilled professionals.
For Indian IT companies, the immediate operational consequences may be limited where PERM filings are few, but prolonged uncertainty could affect recruitment, retention and the choices of professionals planning their futures. For the United States, the central question is how to investigate alleged abuse and protect domestic workers without unnecessarily disrupting lawful routes to permanent residency.
GAWAH News will continue to follow official announcements and developments affecting Indian technology companies and professionals in the United States.
Sources: Reuters · TechCrunch · India Today · The Washington Post · Moneycontrol · PTI/Rediff.
Editor’s note: Allegations of fraud are attributed to the US administration and are not presented as proven findings against every company named.
