Vice President JD Vance's Fraud Task Force has taken decisive action against corporate abuse of foreign labor programs, suspending Microsoft, Adobe, and six major IT outsourcing firms from the permanent labor certification program known as PERM. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling made the announcement at a White House news conference on October 8, confirming that the Department of Labor will not accept any new or process any pending permanent labor certification applications involving these companies.
The suspended companies include Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini alongside Microsoft and Adobe. According to Sonderling, these eight companies alone have requested almost 3 million foreign workers since 2009, receiving over 230,000 H-1B visa approvals and more than 100,000 permanent labor certifications.
Vance, who leads the administration's fraud task force, pointed directly to Microsoft's record. The company laid off 6,000 American workers last year while benefiting from 6,300 H-1B visas and nearly 3,000 green cards, according to the Vice President's statement at the event.
"This is a great day for American workers, because we are taking some very concrete actions to cut down on some of the H-1B and J-1 visa fraud that we've been tracking over the past several months," Vance said.
Sonderling said the outsourcing firms were suspended due to ongoing criminal investigations led by the Department of Labor's Inspector General, while Microsoft and Adobe were suspended due to multiple active federal investigations. The Department of Labor has uncovered $22 billion in visa fraud through the task force's work, according to Sonderling's statement. Vance placed the fraud figure within the Labor Department at approximately $20 billion.
Universities Also Targeted In J-1 Visa Probe
The task force's reach extends beyond tech companies. The Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General has launched an investigation into J-1 exchange visa programs at nine universities, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and MIT. Subpoenas were served on all nine institutions, as confirmed by Anthony D'Esposito, the Department of Labor's inspector general.
According to reporting from Indian outlet Firstpost, the investigation will examine whether universities misused or misclassified J-1 visa holders, potentially allowing institutions to avoid employment obligations, pay lower wages, and compromise the integrity of federally funded research programs. Vance has accused the institutions of using foreign researchers to undercut American graduate students and researchers.
The universities have not been found guilty of fraud, and the allegations remain under investigation. Brown, Harvard, and MIT confirmed receiving subpoenas. MIT described its subpoena as broad and said its J-1 visa holders had been vetted and authorized by the U.S. government. Stanford said it complies with applicable visa laws and would cooperate with investigators. Yale and the University of California, Davis also said they would cooperate or review the matter, while Arizona State University defended its hiring practices as compliant with U.S. law, according to Firstpost.
The Two-Step Pipeline Vance Is Dismantling
The action targets what Vance described as the second step of a two-step pipeline. The first step is the H-1B visa that brings foreign workers into the country. The second step is the PERM program that converts those temporary workers into permanent residents — effectively turning guest laborers into green card holders and eventually citizens.
Microsoft responded to the announcement, saying most of its H-1B filings were for existing employees, according to the Associated Press. The company did not address the specific numbers cited by Vance regarding layoffs and visa usage.
The timing of the announcement raised eyebrows when, hours after Vance froze Microsoft from the immigration program, President Trump awarded Microsoft's CEO a medal at the White House, according to reporting from one outlet covering the story.
What This Means For American Workers
The practical effect is immediate: these companies cannot sponsor foreign workers for green cards through the PERM program. No new applications will be accepted. No pending applications will be processed. For American workers who have watched tech giants lay off thousands while simultaneously importing foreign labor, the message is clear — the pipeline that enabled this practice is being shut down.
The task force's work has already produced significant findings. The $22 billion in visa fraud uncovered represents a massive scale of abuse that went unchecked for years. The companies named have not been convicted of any crimes, and the investigations remain ongoing.
Our Take
Here's what the legacy media won't tell you: this isn't about immigration. It's about corporate greed masquerading as a talent shortage.
For decades, American tech workers have been told they need to train their foreign replacements before being laid off. They've watched companies post record profits while cutting American jobs and importing cheaper labor from abroad. They've been told this is just how the global economy works — that Americans simply can't compete.
That narrative is collapsing. Vance's task force has exposed what many of us have known all along: the H-1B and PERM systems weren't about filling genuine talent gaps. They were about creating a business model from American jobs.
The numbers tell the story. Microsoft laid off 6,000 American workers while bringing in 6,300 H-1B visa holders. That's not a coincidence. That's a replacement strategy.
The universities being investigated for J-1 visa abuse deserve scrutiny too. These institutions have become experts at using foreign researchers to avoid paying American graduate students what they're worth. They've used visa classifications to sidestep employment obligations and undercut domestic talent.
This is what America First looks like in practice. It's not about shutting down legal immigration — it's about ending the abuse of programs designed to help, not to exploit. It's about making sure that when American companies claim they can't find qualified workers here, they're telling the truth and not just looking for cheaper labor abroad.
The investigations are ongoing and the companies deserve their day in court. But the era of unchecked abuse is over. American workers finally have an administration that puts them first.
What happens next depends on whether these companies get the message — or whether they need further enforcement actions to understand that the days of gaming the system are finished.
