Under the Trump 2.0 administration, the US Department of Labor (DOL) suspended permanent labor certification filings for technology services giant Cognizant, which was founded in India in 1994 before its main headquarters moved to New Jersey, USA, decades ago. The major development comes as the Republican president’s government ramps up efforts to clamp down on immigration, including its legal pathways in the country.
As part of the enforcement initiative ‘Project Firewall,’ launched in September 2025, the Trump administration is already backing multiple efforts to crack down on the H-1B visa program. It recruits highly skilled international professionals to American companies, especially those leading the technology sector. Indians have dominated this ‘specialty occupations’ visa category in recent years.
Recent updates on this front include the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposing a new additional $103,265 fee for all H-1B cap-subject petitions, on top of the $100,000 fee for new H-1B applications, which was introduced as part of a proclamation signed by President Trump last year. The latter is currently under legal scrutiny, after US courts blocked it and declared it an unlawful “tax” that the president lacks the authority to impose.
Meanwhile, ‘Permanent Labor Certification’ or ‘PERM’ allows an employer in the United States to hire a foreign worker to work permanently in the US. As a result, the PERM program serves a major role in helping foreign employees secure employment-based Green Cards (lawful permanent residence). Under this program, the DOL must ensure that hiring an international employee won’t adversely impact the working conditions and wages of similarly employed American workers.
Trump admin suspends Cognizant’s PERM filings
Taking to his social media profile, US Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito announced online, “Cognizant’s PERM filings are suspended.” Just months earlier, he had hinted at regulatory action against the IT company on X, asking users to “stay tuned.”
On Tuesday (US time), he further disclosed that his office was collaborating with Labour Department officials and the White House anti-fraud task force, as the Trump administration works to target “threats to American workers.”
“Alongside @WHFraudTF, we’re following facts, fraud and finances. Handcuffs await,” he added, without detailing specific allegations against Cognizant or the suspension’s timeline.
Fighting fraud is a TEAM SPORT.@Sonderling47 and I are for real.@Cognizant’s PERM filings are suspended. @DOLOIG is on the hunt.
Threats to American workers will NOT be tolerated.
Alongside @WHFraudTF, we’re following facts, fraud and finances.
Handcuffs await.— Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito (@USLaborIG) September 8, 2026
He declared in a separate post that the software company Cloudera’s PERM filing had also been suspended.
What it means for Indian tech workers in the US
According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) FY26 Q4 (July-Sept 2026) H-1B Employer Data Hub update, Cognizant was among the top US employers to receive the most H-1B approvals (2,657) during that period after Amazon, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). These approvals would have included Indian nationals as well.
Given the DOL’s latest announcement, Cognizant will be barred from making any new PERM filings until an investigation into the company’s H-1B and PERM programs are completed, thereby impacting its foreign workers’ Green Card applications. However, that doesn’t mean that the company’s existing approvals have been invalidated, unless mentioned otherwise in future. In a separate X post, the DOL official also claimed that both Cognizant and Cloudera’s “H1-B processing” had also been “suspended.”
Techies will have to wait for the DOL’s probe to be completed to find out the broader consequences and how the current PERM and H-1B processing suspensions translate into the firm’s future practices. Several companies have already been ordered to pay million-dollar settlements by the US Department of Justice over certain hiring preferences. Cognizant has yet to comment.
As the Trump administration intensifies its immigration crackdown, D’Esposito also asserted last week that “American jobs are for American workers, not corporate schemes.” In the same social media post, he issued a fresh threat against all those discriminating against Americans, abusing foreign labor programs and commiting fraud.
The DOL official has joined Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, DOL’s Acting Secretary Keith Sonderling, Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Andrea Lucas and the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud in “putting employers on notice.”
Cognizant. Cloudera.
H1-B processing suspended.@Sonderling47 and I ain’t playin’.
I’m live from Dallas tonight with @SaraGonzalesTX on @BlazeTV.
Tune in at 6 PM CT. pic.twitter.com/LgxChqdG1p— Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito (@USLaborIG) September 8, 2026
Recent cases on that front have seen DOJ securing $3.2 million and $21.5 million settlements from OpenAI and Deloitte, respectively, over claims of employment discrimination violations.
Cognizant’s PERM filing suspension comes exactly a day after the company revealed its plans to expand its US workforce by hiring 1,500 college graduates and increasing its Frontier Certified Engineer and Frontier Business Operator staff by 15,000 people. While the first case targeted OpenAI for “discriminating against US workers,” the second one was centred around DOJ’s initiative to curb diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs of government contractors through the False Claims Act (FCA).
“We are hiring American graduates, standing up new American job categories for the AI era, and putting Cognizant’s capital and leadership behind a national coalition built to make sure this transition works for workers,” Cognizant’s CEO Ravi Kumar S said. “We believe AI will create significantly more jobs than it displaces and shift greater value, wages and accountability to the frontlines of America’s workforce.”
In other news, both Cognizant and Cloudera have previously come under fire over claims of discriminating against US workers in favour of hiring workers with temporary visas.
In a March ruling involving the New Jersey-based company, a federal jury in Manhattan awarded $8.4 million to a New York University professor who alleged that he was fired for flagging concerns about the firm’s hiring practices.
Jean-Claude Franchitti, a former Cognizant employee, claimed he was removed from a $350,000-a-year role in 2016 after being with the company for a decade. Court filings indicated that his accusations centred on claims that the company was favouring workers from India as part of a “cheap labor” model.
On the other hand, Cloudera was directly sued by the US Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in April for “violating the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by intentionally discriminating against U.S. workers.”
“Employers cannot use the PERM sponsorship process as a backdoor for discriminating against U.S. workers,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said at the time, reiterating President Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda. “The Division will not hesitate to sue companies who intentionally deter U.S. workers from applying to American jobs.”
Disclaimer: This article is intended for informational purposes only and is based on publicly available immigration guidance. Rules and deadlines are subject to change; readers should verify current requirements directly with USCIS or consult a qualified immigration attorney before making decisions based on this information. Financial Express is not responsible for any decisions made based on this information.