US Department of Labor Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito said that technology companies use the H-1B visa program as a business model to replace American workers, defending the Trump administration’s decision to suspend several companies from the employment-based green card process.
“They are using the H-1B as a business model, and that’s wrong. They’re taking American jobs away from American workers. The comments followed the Trump administration’s move to suspend Microsoft , Adobe and six major information technology companies from the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) program, a key step in sponsoring foreign employees for employment-based green cards . The affected companies include Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini. D’Esposito also linked the action to President Donald Trump ’s wider immigration agenda, saying the administration was working to strengthen enforcement beyond the country’s physical borders.
The action was announced by Vice President JD Vance and Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling on October 8.
“This is not a business model,” D’Esposito said. D’Esposito said companies should not treat foreign-worker recruitment as a long-term staffing strategy when qualified American workers are available. “It was a temporary opportunity for them to put workers in place until they found a talented American,” he said, adding that there were “plenty of people graduating schools and universities looking for a job”. “He secured the front door of the United States of America, and now we are working alongside him and Vice President Vance to secure the back door,” he said, referring to people allegedly seeking citizenship through improper means.
