Microsoft, Adobe, Targeted by USDOL and USDOJ for Suspected H-1B and PERM Abuse

At an October 8, 2026 press conference, Vice President JD Vance, Attorney General Todd Blanche, and senior DOJ and DOL officials announced intensified enforcement focused on alleged misuse of the H-1B, PERM, and J-1 programs. Officials said PERM filings and processing had been suspended for Microsoft, Adobe, and several major IT outsourcing firms—including Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini—while the government investigates alleged visa program abuses, such as hiring of H-1B employees while laying off U.S. workers, and underpaying H-1B employees. Microsoft’s response to the announcement was to clarify that most of its H-1B petitions were filed to extend the status of its existing staff, not to hire new employees, and that it did not underpay its H-1B employees.  Under DOL rules, the PERM suspension may remain in place through the completion of related investigations or judicial proceedings.

The Trump administration also identified nine universities, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown, MIT, Caltech, UC Davis, Arizona State, and the University of Pittsburgh, as subjects of investigations concerning J-1 research scholars. Officials described a new “visa-fraud strike team” and warned that the government may pursue civil recovery and criminal prosecution where it believes violations occurred.

The announcement signals heightened scrutiny for employers and institutions in the technology, consulting, research, higher education, and healthcare fields. Although officials emphasized layoffs, wage disparities, and U.S.-worker displacement, the press conference appeared at times to blur distinct H-1B and PERM requirements: recruitment and non-displacement attestations apply only to H-1B-dependent employers and willful violators, while PERM is a separate process that involves a test of the U.S. labor market.

This initiative is different from prior DOJ investigations on PERM recruitment, in which the DOJ  asserted that PERM recruitment that varies from an employer’s typical practice (specifically relating to posting on the company career page) constitutes discrimination against U.S. workers, as announced in the Facebook and Apple settlements. 

Employers wanting to prepare for the possibility of increased investigations should review H1B specialty-occupation evidence, wage and LCA public-access-file compliance, PERM recruitment records, workforce-reduction timelines, and J-1 program administration.