Vance calls foreign workers indentured servants

US Vice President JD Vance announced Thursday that the Labor Department is suspending eight companies from the PERM programme, which sponsors foreign workers for green cards.

“indentured servants”

Eight companies suspended from PERM

The suspended companies are Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL and France's Capgemini.Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said the department will not accept new PERM applications from these eight or process pending ones.

India calls language deeply offensive

India's foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a briefing in New Delhi on Friday that Vance's description was deeply offensive.

“Resorting to terminology that carries painful historical and colonial legacy connotations is deeply offensive”

PERM suspension does not affect H-1B visas

India's ministry said PERM is distinct from the H-1B visa programme. The suspension does not by itself affect the validity of H-1B visas or the status of visa holders and their families, though it could…

Microsoft is biggest PERM user

Microsoft is the largest user of PERM according to a GeekWire analysis of Labor Department data.

Lawyers expect court challenges within days

Federal law lets the Labor Department suspend an employer for only one hundred eighty days on its own.After investigation, it can bar an employer for up to three years.