On October 8, the Trump administration suspended eight major technology firms—including Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL, Capgemini, Microsoft and Adobe—from the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) program, a move aimed at tightening the employment‑based green‑card process. The restriction came amid accusations that foreign‑worker visa schemes were being exploited at the expense of American workers.
Benny Johnson, a conservative commentator, posted on X that the suspension had triggered a complete collapse of the Indian stock market, claiming that 75% of Cognizant’s U.S. workforce was Indian and that Indian companies were "scamming" the U.S. labor system. Johnson’s tweet was immediately flagged by a community note that clarified the market had closed hours before the announcement, undermining the assertion that the policy caused a crash.
The Department of Labor’s Inspector General, Anthony D'Esposito, reacted with a terse "Ruh roh" comment, which users interpreted as tacit endorsement of Johnson’s unfounded claim. Several commenters chastised D'Esposito for amplifying misinformation, with one user writing, "How did you become inspector general, without even knowing the facts? Read the community notes."
Indian benchmark indices dipped 1.2% on Thursday, a fall attributed to rising crude prices, an RBI rate hike and foreign investor outflows, not the U.S. policy. By Friday, the Sensex and Nifty rebounded 1.5% and 1.4% respectively, and shares of Tata Consultancy Services surged 4%, buoyed by a 15% year‑on‑year profit rise.
The Department of Labor has issued no statement regarding the incident, and the PERM restrictions remain in effect as of October 9. The incident has prompted calls for stricter oversight of senior officials’ engagement with social media misinformation.