What smart people are saying about the US suspending new PERM applications for Microsoft, Adobe, and Indian tech giants

The move has renewed debate over whether stricter skilled-immigration policies protect American workers or hurt American businesses.

Alex Wroblewski / AFP via Getty Images The Trump administration suspended Microsoft, Adobe, and others from the PERM program.

VP JD Vance said Microsoft abused the PERM program more than any other company.

Here’s what immigration and tech experts are saying: 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 disputed Vance's accusations, saying most of its H-1B filings were for existing employees rather than new hires.

"Of the approximately 6,000 H-1B visa applications we submitted in the last fiscal year, 80% percent were to extend or change the status of existing Microsoft employees.

These were not to hire new people," the company wrote.

Besides Microsoft and Adobe, the action also affected six major IT services companies with deep ties to India’s tech sector: Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro, HCLTech, Cognizant, and Capgemini.

Here’s what immigration-policy experts and Indian tech voices are saying: Ron Hira, Howard University political science professor Hira, a Howard University political science professor and a longtime critic of the H-1B program, called the move against Microsoft “very significant.” Hira has long argued that employers can use the program in ways that depress pay and disadvantage US workers.