By Shubhangi Goel
Publication Date: 2026-10-09 06:41:00
For foreign workers at some of the biggest employers in tech, there’s another twist in an already uncertain system.
The Trump administration’s decision to suspend Microsoft, Adobe, and other named tech companies from the Permanent Labor Certification, or PERM, program has renewed debate over whether stricter skilled-immigration policies protect American workers or hurt American businesses.
On Thursday morning, Vice President JD Vance announced the suspension at a press conference. He singled out Microsoft, saying: “If you do the math, for every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants.”
PERM is not itself a visa. It is the Labor Department certification employers generally need before sponsoring a worker for an employment-based green card. Vance said that some companies had abused the system and used foreign workers to undercut Americans.
In a statement on Thursday, Microsoft…
