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Vance and the Labor Department freeze green card sponsorship for Microsoft, Adobe and six IT outsourcing firms, alleging fraud

Political Guyentist · October 9, 20263 min read

ABC NEWS

Hours later, Trump gave Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

Vice President JD Vance announced Thursday, Oct. 8, that eight companies are suspended from PERM. PERM is the Labor Department's labor-certification process, usually the first step toward an employer-sponsored green card.

The targets. Microsoft and Adobe, plus outsourcing firms Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini.

The charge. Vance accused Microsoft of fraud. He said it laid off 6,000 U.S. workers last year while getting 6,300 H-1B visas and almost 3,000 green cards over the same period. BBC put the H-1B figure at 6,800 applications. Sonderling said Microsoft and Adobe have received about 230,000 H-1B approvals and about 100,000 permanent labor certifications since 2009.

“You cannot lay off American workers and then replace them with foreign indentured servants.”JD Vance

Microsoft's answer. It says 80% of its H-1B filings last fiscal year were extensions or status changes for people already on staff. It also says it pays them like other employees doing the same work. Immigration firm Ellis puts Microsoft's median H-1B salary at $155,000.

The wider push. Vance also named nine universities for a J-1 visa fraud probe. On Wednesday, Oct. 7, Homeland Security proposed a $70,000 fee per student in OPT, the program that lets foreign graduates work in the U.S. after school.

Still open. Vance set no end date for the freeze.

What we’re less sure of3 of 7 claims

Red take

Microsoft earned this freeze. Vice President JD Vance says it cut 6,000 American jobs last year while it took in 6,300 H-1B visas and almost 3,000 green cards. The Labor Department's own watchdog already paused filings from Cognizant, another firm on the list, in September. Let these companies keep sponsoring while the probe runs, and every employer learns that swapping out Americans costs nothing.

Blue take

Freezing first and proving later punishes the wrong people. Microsoft says 80% of its H-1B filings last year were for workers already on its staff, and the Labor Department's 1977 rule allows pausing a suspect employer's filings, not refusing new ones. With no end date, those employees lose the first step toward an employer-sponsored green card, and any company a vice president names can be cut off before anyone proves fraud.