With this new H1B rule, IBM, with quarterly layoff, will no longer be able to onshore Indians to take US Citizen's job. This rule must extend to existing H1Bs already in USA to replace them with US Citizens who are likely better qualified.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/white-house-h-1b-order-puts-employer-layoffs-under-microscope
So no layoffs! Our foreign friends saved us!
[Entire article from referenced by OP quoted below].
White House H-1B Order Puts Employer Layoffs Under Microscope --
By: Andrew Kreighbaum | Sept. 22, 2026, 4:00 AM CDT
The Trump administration plans to ramp up scrutiny of businesses hiring H-1B workers if those companies have conducted recent layoffs, the latest step in a campaign to limit foreign employment.
Although most employers aren’t barred from adding foreign workers if they’ve recently cut positions, a new White House executive order signals workforce reductions could play a more prominent role in enforcement targeting the specialty occupation visa program. The order directs new coordination by the departments of Homeland Security, Labor, and State to weigh job cuts when reviewing filings by employers.
While President Donald Trump’s directive didn’t outline specific steps agencies may take based on whether a company has conducted layoffs, it articulates a “whole of government” approach to H-1B violations that should put businesses on notice, said Edward Raleigh, a partner at Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy LLP.
“Employers that haven’t traditionally had to consider displacement in the H-1B process should be thinking really hard about it and doing a risk analysis,” Raleigh said.
Trump issued the executive order Sept. 18 along with a proclamation extending a $100,000 charge for workers hired on H-1B visas from outside the US, which remains blocked by a court order. Both measures were designed to combat alleged abuses of the program that have harmed employment of Americans, the White House said.
The latest orders followed a slew of policies adding new hurdles for H-1B employers and workers, who predominantly work in tech-related occupations. US technology companies meanwhile have announced plans to cut thousands of jobs this year as it makes major new investments in artificial intelligence.
In addition to the latest H-1B fee renewal, DHS proposed a new six-figure fee for H-1B petitions subject to the program’s 85,000 visa cap last month, and it plans to eliminate a 60-day grace period for H-1B workers who lose a job.
DOL officials have meanwhile put a spotlight on alleged fraud in the specialty occupation program, starting with its Project Firewall initiative launched last year.
Layoff Ban
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, employers face significant additional obligations to sponsor foreign workers for green cards — known as permanent labor certification, or PERM — if they’ve conducted layoffs in the previous six months.
That process has been a frequent target of Justice Department enforcement actions under the Trump administration.
But just a sliver of businesses are subject to similar restrictions for adding H-1B workers, among them companies with 15% or more of their workforce on the status. But the INA doesn’t bar companies from hiring workers through the specialty occupation program if they’ve conducted recent layoffs.
That means the government can’t outright deny visas or petitions based on job cuts without inviting litigation, immigration attorneys said.
“Companies are going to sue and most likely win in court,” said George Fishman, a senior fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that supports restricting immigration to the US.
The order will ultimately have little effect, especially for the tech companies that account for the biggest numbers of recent layoffs, said immigration attorney Jonathan Wasden.
“This isn’t going to lead to anything but more chest beating,” he said.
Examining Filings
But attorneys said increased probes of businesses laying off workers could lead to other consequences for other violations by those firms. The order directed the DOL within 30 days to review previously submitted labor condition applications, forms attesting that adding H-1B employees won’t harm US workers.
Those reviews will likely look for patterns like heavy use of entry-level wages, employee work sites that don’t match DHS petitions, and large volumes of filings by companies with a model of placing workers at third-party firms. None of those may be a violation in itself, but they could be red flags and trigger more expansive investigations, said L.J. D’Arrigo, a partner and chair of the immigration practice at Harris Beach Murtha.
“An investigation rarely stays confined to the LCA that triggered it,” he said.
Layoff histories or issues identified in labor condition applications could also lead DHS to issue more requests for evidence to employers seeking to add H-1B workers, said Anne Rowley, counsel at Grossman Young & Hammond LLC.
That gives employers and immigration attorneys impetus to make sure those forms are “as close to perfect as possible,” she said.
“The sky may be the limit with creative arguments from the agencies working to advance these goals,” she said.
Remember...Gerstner found a way to demolish the IBM Pension Plan in 1993 that we all that was iron clad. Never underestimate the vile ways IBM thinks and operates.
@ar Someone did the math on India and how they treat people wanting to migrate for no reason, buy a house, get free handouts from the government, or get a job. It's like 12 years to become a citizen, you have to be approved (it's not automatic), you can't buy property for the first 5-7 years, etc etc.
The US method is a scam in comparison and there's nothing the Indians love more than an easy scam target.
@ar Maybe we'd just like a chance to work INSIDE the US.
to the people opposing H1B. Do you think you should also not have chance to work outside US?
This explains why they’re pushing for PIPS in place of layoffs!
This narrative and justification that we need to import the talent from overseas is such a blatant lie and really needs to end. It wasn’t true then and isn’t true now