‘US no longer wants us’: Sridhar Vembu asks Indians in America to come back amid PERM suspension

US PERM suspension: Indians uproot their lives, build a foreign country, yet a big part of that country does not want them, lamented Zoho founder and chief scientist Sridhar Vembu. He urged Indians to come back and build India instead.

“Indians have made a major contribution to America's technological prowess. Yet, a big part of America no longer wants us. Indians who are on a visa in the US face the painful prospect of uprooting the life you have built with hard work. Let this be the birth pains of a bold new future. Come back, let's build India,” he said.

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This comes after the US suspended nine IT firms including Microsoft, TCS, Infosys and Wipro, from a programme to apply for green cards for foreign workers. The Trump administration contended that the practice has shut out Americans from the job market.

A user asked why India witnessed such a level of brain drain and could not build anything in India. The user said without the root cause, nothing can be built at a Starlink level. To this, Vembu said, “The Chinese migrated in large numbers even as China developed. Taiwanese migrated in large numbers as Taiwan developed. Same with South Korea and before that Japan. My point is that development at a national level accompanies our migration of talent seeking better opportunities faster,” he said.

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The Permanent Labour Certification Programme (PERM) suspension announcement was made by Vice President JD Vance, Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling, and Attorney General Todd Blanche as part of an action led by the US Anti-Fraud Task Force. Sonderling stated that the Department of Labour is suspending major IT outsourcing firms such as Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini from the programme.

Microsoft and Adobe are also being suspended due to ongoing federal investigations. Vance criticised Microsoft, saying it had abused the system by laying off 6,000 American workers in 2025 while continuing to receive approvals for thousands of H-1B visas and permanent labour certification applications for the same positions.

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Sonderling added that the Department of Labour will no longer accept new or process pending permanent labour certification applications involving these companies. Since 2009, these firms have requested nearly 3 million foreign workers and received over 230,000 H-1B visa approvals and more than 100,000 permanent labour certifications.

The suspension highlights concerns over the impact on American jobs, with Indian professionals making up over 70 per cent of all approved H-1B petitions annually. Vance described foreign workers on H-1B visas as "foreign indentured servants" and labelled the companies using the programme as "visa mills”.