Assange gets nod to appeal US extradition

The Trump administration has suspended employment-based green card processing for eight major technology companies, including Infosys, TCS, Wipro and HCL, citing ongoing investigations…reports Asian Lite News Desk The Trump administration has suspended a key employment-based green card process for eight major technology and outsourcing companies, including Indian IT giants Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and HCL, as Vice President JD Vance announced a crackdown on alleged visa fraud. The suspension, announced on Thursday by US Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling at a press conference led by Vance, also covers Cognizant, Capgemini, Microsoft and Adobe. It bars the companies from filing new permanent labour certification applications and halts the processing of pending applications under the programme. Sonderling said the decision followed ongoing criminal and federal investigations into the companies. “Due to ongoing criminal investigations led by the Department of Labour’s Inspector General Anthony DiEsposito, who will get into this shortly, I am hereby suspending from the Permanent Labour Certification Program some of the largest IT outsourcing firms in the world, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini,” Sonderling said. He added that Microsoft and Adobe were also being suspended because of multiple active federal investigations. “We will not accept or process any pending permanent labour certification applications involving these companies,” he said. The Permanent Labour Certification programme, commonly known as PERM, is a key step in the process through which employers sponsor foreign workers for employment-based permanent residence in the United States. According to figures presented by Sonderling, the eight companies had collectively requested nearly three million foreign workers since 2009. They had received more than 230,000 H-1B visa approvals and over 100,000 permanent labour certifications. The administration did not disclose company-specific findings or provide details of the alleged violations during the press conference. Vance accused employers of using the H-1B visa programme to replace American workers with lower-paid foreign employees. He said the programme was intended to help companies recruit highly skilled workers for positions that could not be filled by American employees. “The H-1B visa program is meant to allow companies to bring in really the best of the best from outside the United States of America for positions that are completely impossible to fill with American workers,” he said. Vance singled out Microsoft, alleging that the company had laid off 6,000 American workers while benefiting from 6,300 H-1B visas and nearly 3,000 green cards. He said the administration wanted companies to change their hiring practices rather than withdraw from the American market. Asked whether the suspension would be temporary or permanent, Vance said, “The suspension of PERM is gonna last as long as it needs to.” He added that the administration had the tools to continue the suspension indefinitely but wanted the companies to improve their conduct. The US Justice Department also announced that it was actively investigating companies suspected of favouring foreign workers over American employees. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the authorities could pursue criminal prosecutions and civil lawsuits as part of the enforcement measures. The decision could have significant implications for Indian technology professionals and outsourcing companies operating in the United States, where Indian firms have long relied on employment-based immigration programmes to deploy skilled workers to American clients. The H-1B visa programme allows US employers to hire foreign workers in qualifying specialised occupations on a temporary basis. PERM, meanwhile, is part of a separate process through which employers seek to sponsor eligible foreign workers for permanent residence. The suspension announced on Thursday specifically concerns permanent labour certification applications involving the eight named companies. It does not, by itself, establish the cancellation of existing H-1B visas or green cards. The impact on individual employees will depend on their immigration status and the stage of their applications. The administration did not provide a detailed timeline for the suspension or specify when processing might resume.