US Curbs Green Card Program for Eight Tech Giants, Probes Universities

The United States on Thursday barred eight major technology companies, including Microsoft, Infosys, Wipro, and Tata, from a federal labour certification program used to secure employment-based green cards for foreign workers. This sweeping action, announced by Vice President JD Vance, Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling, and Attorney General Todd Blanche under the US Anti-Fraud Task Force, targets some of the world's largest IT outsourcing firms amid increased scrutiny of immigration practices, as reported by Economic Times.

Labour Secretary Sonderling explicitly suspended Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini from the Permanent Labour Certification Programme. Microsoft and Adobe were also suspended due to multiple ongoing federal investigations. Under this decision, the US Department of Labour will neither accept new permanent labour certification applications nor process pending ones involving these eight companies. Vice President Vance accused Microsoft of misusing the immigration system, noting the company laid off 6,000 American workers in 2025 yet was approved for over 6,000 H-1B visas and filed 3,682 PERM applications, nearly 1,000 for positions identical to those of the laid-off American workers.

Sonderling highlighted that these companies collectively requested almost three million foreign workers since 2009, receiving over 230,000 H-1B visa approvals and over 100,000 permanent labour certifications, figures he argued represent hundreds of thousands of lost American employment opportunities. Vance controversially described foreign workers recruited through the H-1B program as "foreign indentured servants" and companies utilising the system as "visa mills." This action carries significant implications for Indian technology professionals, who account for over 70 per cent of approved H-1B petitions annually.

The administration's crackdown extends to higher education, with an investigation announced into the J-1 visa program at nine major universities, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Vance alleged these institutions excessively rely on J-1 visas for foreign researchers, potentially undercutting American graduate students and academics' wages. Department of Labour Inspector General Anthony D'Esposito, in announcing a dedicated visa fraud strike team, issued a stern warning that no university's reputation or financial resources would shield it from enforcement, stating, "Break the law and screw the American people, and I will personally cuff you in the university square."

Editor's note: The article effectively covers the visa crackdown, the specific companies and universities named, and the attributed statements from administration officials.