‘Never-Ending Flow of Cheap Labour’: Vance Clashes With Jayapal Over Green-Card Curbs

US Vice President JD Vance has defended the Trump administration’s decision to suspend eight technology companies from a key employment-based green-card process, accusing critics of protecting corporations’ access to cheap foreign labour.

Responding to Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, who challenged the move, Vance wrote: “‘Socialism’ apparently means fighting like hell to ensure mega-corporations have a never-ending flow of cheap labour.”

The exchange sharpened the political dispute over the suspension of Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini from the Permanent Labor Certification programme, known as PERM. The Labour Department cited multiple active federal investigations as the basis for its action.

JAYAPAL WARNS AGAINST ‘HAMMER’ TO LEGAL IMMIGRATION

Jayapal, who previously held an H-1B visa, said the restrictions threatened legal pathways for skilled immigrants and America’s ability to innovate.

Identifying herself as the top Democrat on the Immigration Subcommittee and the representative of tens of thousands of Microsoft workers, she argued that PERM already incorporates safeguards intended to protect American jobs.

“The PERM program is the first step toward an employment-based green card for countless workers who want to contribute to this country, and it lays out a clear process with steps to ensure that this is a net benefit to our economy and does not harm American jobs,” she posted on X.

Jayapal said immigrants played an essential role across the economy and that the government should protect legal employment pathways while acting against unscrupulous employers.

“You don’t fix a broken immigration system by taking a hammer to legal immigration,” she said.

She also defended Microsoft’s advocacy for immigration reform, arguing that targeting the company and the PERM process would undermine the country’s capacity to attract talent.

VANCE ALLEGES WAGE UNDERCUTTING

Vance’s response followed remarks at a news conference on visa fraud, where he accused employers of using foreign workers to suppress wages and replace Americans.

He alleged that H-1B workers earned $20,000 less than American citizens in comparable positions, with the gap rising to $48,000 for workers brought in by foreign outsourcing firms. He described such workers as “indentured servants” while accusing corporations of profiting from the arrangement.

Microsoft has disputed the administration’s broader characterisation of its hiring practices. In a separate statement, the company said 80% of approximately 6,000 H-1B filings in its last fiscal year concerned extensions or status changes for existing employees. It also said it paid H-1B employees the same as others doing comparable work.

WHAT THE SUSPENSION TARGETS

The action concerns PERM, a labour-certification process used in many employer-sponsored applications for permanent residency. It does not itself amount to a blanket cancellation of existing H-1B work status.

Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling said the companies had collectively received more than 230,000 H-1B visa approvals and over 100,000 permanent labour certifications since 2009. He alleged that their use of foreign labour had displaced American workers.

The move followed a separate Department of Homeland Security proposal to introduce new fees for Optional Practical Training, which allows eligible international students to work in fields related to their studies.

Together, the measures have intensified the confrontation over skilled immigration, with the administration arguing that tighter restrictions protect American workers and Jayapal warning that they damage the legal pathways on which employers and immigrant families depend.

With inputs from ANI