New Delhi, October 11, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Trump administration’s reported move to suspend the Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) programme for eight major technology and outsourcing companies, including Indian IT giants Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and HCL, could ultimately disadvantage the United States by encouraging skilled professionals and businesses to look elsewhere, a media report has warned.
The action also covers Cognizant, Capgemini, Microsoft and Adobe. It prevents the companies from filing new PERM applications and halts the processing of pending applications under the programme, which serves as a key route to employment-based green cards.
According to a report published by Khalsa Vox, immigrant-founded and immigrant-co-founded unicorns, many with Indian roots, have generated substantial economic value and employment in the United States. The report argues that restricting pathways to permanent residency could undermine the country’s ability to attract and retain skilled global talent.
“Therefore, closing off permanence does not magically produce equivalent American talent overnight; it signals that even those who play by the rules may never fully belong,” the report stated.
Antariksh Singh, writing in Khalsa Vox, warned that increased uncertainty could prompt affected companies to accelerate the relocation of work to overseas or neighbouring markets, potentially running counter to the administration’s stated objectives.
“Talent that once chose America will choose places that offer clearer paths to settlement. Competitors benefit,” Singh said.
The report noted that the decision does not cancel existing H-1B visas but could freeze the route to permanent residency for thousands of Indian professionals who have spent years working in the US, paying taxes and establishing their lives there.
It also highlighted the challenges facing Indian professionals, who make up a significant share of the employment-based green card backlog. Those approaching the six-year H-1B limit without an approved route to an extension could face uncertainty over whether they can continue living and working in the country.
“Families, children’s schooling, mortgages, and community ties hang in limbo. The rhetoric of ‘indentured servants’ only deepens the insult to highly educated engineers, programmers, and researchers who came through legal channels and fill genuine skill gaps,” Singh said.
The suspension debate comes amid criticism from US Vice-President J.D. Vance, who has accused some employers of using the H-1B visa programme to replace American workers with lower-paid foreign 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,” Vance said.
Vance specifically cited 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 leave the American market.
The competing arguments highlight the tension between the administration’s stated aim of protecting American workers and concerns that restrictions on employment-based immigration could make it harder for US companies to retain experienced international professionals.
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