NEW DELHI: The US Department of Labour has suspended permanent labour certification, or PERM, filings by Cognizant and Cloudera as the Trump administration intensifies its crackdown on alleged fraud in employment-based immigration programmes.The Labour Department’s Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito said on Tuesday that the PERM filings were halted following an investigation conducted with the White House Fraud Task Force and other authorities.Announcing the action on social media platform X, D’Esposito said, “Threats to American workers will NOT be tolerated.”He also wrote, “Fighting fraud is a TEAM SPORT. @Sonderling47 and I are for real. @Cognizant’s PERM filings are suspended. @DOLOIG is on the hunt,” referring to Keith Sonderling, Acting Secretary of Labour.D’Esposito further said, “Alongside @WHFraudTF, we’re following facts, fraud and finances. Handcuffs await.”The action is linked to a wider investigation launched by the Trump administration in July into alleged fraud involving the H-1B and PERM employment visa programmes.PERM, or Program Electronic Review Management, is a key step for US employers seeking to sponsor foreign workers for permanent residency. Under the process, employers generally have to establish that qualified US workers are not available for the position and that hiring a foreign worker will not adversely affect wages and working conditions for American employees.The suspension comes amid increased scrutiny of companies that rely heavily on foreign workers, particularly major IT services providers that use employment-based immigration programmes to staff projects in the US.Large Indian IT services companies have historically relied on foreign talent and US immigration programmes to meet staffing requirements for their American operations and clients.Cognizant was founded in Chennai in 1994 and is now headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey. According to figures from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Cognizant received approvals for 3,510 H-1B visa applications through June 30, compared with 9,413 approvals in 2020.The suspension of Cognizant’s PERM filings marks a significant escalation in the administration’s scrutiny of employment-based immigration and places the company and Cloudera directly in the scope of the ongoing investigation.
