J.D. Vance Pauses PERM: Lawyers Question Gov Data

J.D. Vance has targeted multiple companies in his largescale immigration crackdown. Microsoft, TCS, Cognizant, and many others have had their PERM labour applications paused.

The USCIS is also delaying H-1B transfer and extension requests from these companies, even with Premium Processing. Vance has defended this move as protection for American workers.

However, lawyers at Reddy, Neumann and Brown have strongly criticized this move. They have argued that the evidence used to justify this action is heavily distorted.

Vance criticized Microsoft for laying off 6,000 workers and filing 6,300 H-1B applications. However, the data shows that 80% of those applications were routine extension requests.

Meaning barely any new workers are entering the US.

Lawyers fear that this order may not remain remain restricted to just PERM and H-1B pauses. Employment based visas like EB-1A and EB-2 may be next on the list.

These visas provide a clear path to getting a green card, which may be what the government is targeting. Green cards obtained through family and marriage may also be blocked soon as an extension.

This move has crippled companies which provide employment to thousands of Americans. Lawyers say that if the H-1B issues continue, or if green card options are also cut off, the USA may take a serious economic hit.

These companies will likely offshore hundreds of positions in a contingency measure. Most of it will be rerouted to India, where hundreds of H-1B holders remain stranded.

VP JD on #Microsoft:

Microsoft cut 6,000 American jobs while benefiting from 6,300 #H1B visas and nearly 3,000 Green Cards.

We’re suspending the #GreenCard program for @Microsoft https://t.co/wesQtIZ0tJ

— M9 NEWS (@M9News_) October 8, 2026