US Vice President JD Vance has defended his administration’s decision to suspend major technology companies from the employment-based green card programme, and he has hit back at Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal for criticising the move.
Jayapal, a Democrat who serves on the House Immigration Subcommittee and previously held an H-1B visa, said the Trump administration’s move undermines legal immigration and threatens America’s ability to innovate. In a post on X, Jayapal said the decision was particularly significant given her role as the top Democrat on the Immigration Subcommittee, her experience as an H-1B visa holder and her representation of tens of thousands of Microsoft employees. “This is a crucial issue for me as the top Democrat on the Immigration Subcommittee, the only member of Congress to have actually had an H-1B visa, and the Representative for tens of thousands of Microsoft workers,” she wrote. Jayapal said the Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) programme serves as the first step towards an employment-based green card for many workers. “Our economy, our communities, and our families depend on immigrants in many sectors, including the tech sector, and heavy-handed attacks like this only hurt efforts to build a strong, stable, and diverse base of workers who have legal pathways to come and be in the United States while also protecting U.S. workers from unscrupulous employers,” she said.
She accused the administration of repeatedly restricting legal routes for immigrants to contribute their skills to the United States, describing the latest move as another such attempt. She added that the programme establishes a process designed to ensure immigration benefits the US economy without harming American jobs.
The dispute follows an announcement by US Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling that the government was suspending some of the world’s largest IT outsourcing firms from the Permanent Labour Certification Programme.
