What smart people are saying about the US suspending new PERM applications for Microsoft, Adobe, and Indian tech giants

• The Trump administration suspended Microsoft, Adobe, and others from the PERM program.
• VP JD Vance said Microsoft abused the PERM program more than any other company.
• Here’s what immigration and tech experts are saying:

“If the Trump administration were truly concerned that H-1B workers are ‘indentured servants,’ then the last thing they would do is block companies from helping their own H-1B workers get green cards,” Rand told AP.

Dinesh Pai, Indian tech founder

Pai, an India-based vice president of investments at the country’s largest brokerage Zerodha, reacted to what a more restrictive US path to permanent residency could mean for India.

In a statement on X, Pai wrote that the immediate downside could be fewer high-earning Indians in the US, which in turn could mean lower remittances, less soft power, and less angel investments flowing back into Indian startups. He also noted that India receives roughly $125 billion in annual remittances, with the US accounting for about a quarter of that total.

But he also saw a potential upside. If US companies cannot bring talent to America, he wrote, “they probably will bring the work to India.”

US visa uncertainty may also keep more top engineers in India to build domestic companies and AI startups, he added.

Nasscom, India’s IT-industry trade group

Nasscom, India’s main tech industry group, said immigration policy and skilled-talent mobility should be treated as separate issues.

“While the decision affects a specific immigration pathway, Nasscom has consistently maintained that immigration and skilled talent mobility are two distinct issues and should not be viewed through the same lens,” the group said in a statement to local media

It also said the number of employees moving from H-1B status to permanent residency through PERM is “relatively limited.”