Vance expands enforcement against tech giants

A month after the Trump Administration levied one of the strongest enforcement actions ever on the IT-staffing firm Cognizant for suspected abuses of guest worker programs, Vice President JD Vance announced on Thursday that the administration was levying the same penalty on software giants Microsoft and Adobe. The companies will be suspended from the Permanent Labor Certification Program (PERM), which is the first step employers must take when sponsoring foreign workers for green cards.

Joined by Attorney General Todd Blanche and Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, the administration also announced that five additional IT staffing firms—Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini—will also be suspended from PERM.

For years, the tech industry has been suppressing wages and displacing American workers by using a three-part pipeline that includes the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, the H-1B visa program, and employment-based green cards. Blocking PERM access removes the primary incentive these companies use to attract foreign workers: the promise of green card sponsorship.

"Unfortunately, the program has become rife with fraud over the last several years, probably the last several decades.”

"Microsoft laid off 6,000 American workers last year. At the same time, the company benefited from 6,300 H-1B visas and almost 3,000 green cards [for foreign workers]. … If you do the math, for every worker Microsoft laid off, [the company] replaced them with one and a half foreign indentured servants."

-- Vice President JD Vance

Admin also targets OPT

The Trump Administration proposed a new rule this week to combat fraud, strengthen the integrity of the immigration system, and protect U.S. workers by implementing a fee on the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. Once finalized, schools will be required to pay a $70,000 fee for the first OPT worker and a $30,000 fee for subsequent extensions, a cost they are expected to pass directly to the hiring employers. 

OPT allows foreign graduates of U.S. universities to remain in the country and work to gain "practical experience." Graduates with degrees in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) can stay and work for up to three years. Because OPT lacks wage and recruitment safeguards for citizen graduates, employers can easily hire foreign graduates over American applicants—often at lower salaries. The proposed fee should help dissuade tech employers from preferring cheaper foreign workers.DHS will accept public comments on the proposed rule until November 9. It will likely face legal challenges before it takes effect. If you would like to comment on the rule and encourage DHS to fully end the OPT program, you can review it and submit a comment here.

Smucker climbs, Stanton, Kelly, Cisneros fall

With both chambers of Congress in recess and in full campaign mode, IAP Action’s Immigration Rankings saw little movement this week. 

Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA) climbed two spots this week to rank 196th overall in the House after cosponsoring the POLICE Act, H.R. 31. The bill would make assaulting a police officer a deportable offense.

Reps. Greg Stanton (D-AZ), Robin Kelly (D-IL), and Gil Cisneros (D-CA) fell five spots this week to rank 253rd, 348th, and 361st, respectively. 

Rep. Stanton cosponsored the Real Courts, Rule of Law Act, H.R. 7836, which would create an independent immigration court system with merit-based appointments for immigration judges. 

Rep. Kelly cosponsored H.J.Res. 215, which would resolve Congressional disapproval of the Trump Administration’s rule that places time limits on student visas. 

Rep. Cisneros cosponsored Protecting Student Privacy Act, H.R. 9134, which would bar the sharing of Federal student aid information with DHS for immigration enforcement purposes, and the Protect American Values Act, H.R. 10045, which would block Federal funds to implement President Trump's efforts to enforce the Public Charge statute.

You can view the full Congressional Immigration Rankings at IAPAction.com.

Immigration Articles

Washington Examiner: They drug 5-year-olds to smuggle them for $900 a head. Why is Congress looking away?

Former ICE official and Mass Deportation Coalition Member Scott Mechkowski warns that human smugglers are exploiting document fraud and loopholes to traffic drugged children across the southern border, arguing that Congress must codify mandatory DNA testing, rigorous sponsor vetting, and expedited return procedures for all unaccompanied illegal alien minors to permanently close these gaps. 

DataRepublican: Mass Migration Explorer

A new interactive data dashboard created by Mass Deportation Coalition Member DataRepublican maps nationwide migration flows and county-level demographic shifts while tracking federal funding across a network of more than 1,150 resettlement NGOs and faith-based contractors. 

Department of Justice: Justice Department Announces Charges Involving 16 Aliens for Election Crimes

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced federal charges against 16 lawful permanent resident aliens across four states for election-related crimes, including unlawfully voting in federal elections, registering through false claims of U.S. citizenship, and making false statements on naturalization applications.

Next Week

The House and Senate remain out of town.