വാഷിങ്ടണ്‍: അമേരിക്കയില്‍ വിദേശ ജീവനക്കാര്‍ക്ക് ഗ്രീന്‍ കാര്‍ഡ് ലഭിക്കുന്നതിനായി സ്‌പോണ്‍സര്‍ ചെയ്യാന്‍ കമ്പനികള്‍ക്ക് അനുമതി നല്‍കുന്ന പെര്‍മനന്റ് ലേബര്‍ സര്‍ട്ടിഫിക്കേഷന്‍ പ്രോഗ്രാമില്‍ നിന്ന് പ്രമുഖ ഐടി കമ്പനികളെ സസ്പെന്‍ഡ് ചെയ്ത് യുഎസ് ഭരണകൂടം. കോഗ്‌നിസന്റ്, ഇന്‍ഫോസിസ്, ടാറ്റ, വിപ്രോ, എച്ച്സിഎല്‍, ക്യാപ്‌ജെമിനി തുടങ്ങിയ കമ്പനികളെയാണ് നടപടി ബാധിക്കുന്നത്. അമേരിക്കന്‍ തൊഴിലാളികളുടെ തൊഴിലവസരങ്ങള്‍ വിദേശ ജീവനക്കാര്‍ കൈക്കലാക്കുന്നുവെന്ന ആരോപണത്തിന്റെ അടിസ്ഥാനത്തിലാണ് നടപടിയെന്ന് യുഎസ് തൊഴില്‍ സെക്രട്ടറി കീത്ത് സോണ്ടര്‍ലിങ് അറിയിച്ചു.

2009 മുതല്‍ ഈ കമ്പനികള്‍ ഏകദേശം 30 ലക്ഷം വിദേശ തൊഴിലാളികളെ ആവശ്യപ്പെട്ടിട്ടുണ്ടെന്നും 2.30 ലക്ഷത്തിലധികം എച്ച്-1ബി വിസകള്‍ക്ക് അംഗീകാരം ലഭിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ടെന്നും സോണ്ടര്‍ലിങ് പറഞ്ഞു. ഒരു ലക്ഷത്തിലധികം സ്ഥിരം തൊഴില്‍ സര്‍ട്ടിഫിക്കേഷനുകളും കമ്പനികള്‍ നേടിയിട്ടുണ്ടെന്നാണ് യുഎസ് അധികൃതരുടെ വാദം. സസ്പെന്‍ഷന്‍ നിലവില്‍ വന്നതോടെ ഈ കമ്പനികളുമായി ബന്ധപ്പെട്ട പുതിയ അപേക്ഷകള്‍ സ്വീകരിക്കില്ലെന്നും തീര്‍പ്പാകാത്ത അപേക്ഷകളില്‍ തുടര്‍നടപടികള്‍ സ്വീകരിക്കില്ലെന്നും അധികൃതര്‍ വ്യക്തമാക്കി. മൈക്രോസോഫ്റ്റ്, അഡോബി തുടങ്ങിയ പ്രമുഖ കമ്പനികളെയും യുഎസ് നടപടികള്‍ ബാധിക്കുമെന്നാണ് റിപ്പോര്‍ട്ട്.

അമേരിക്കന്‍ തൊഴിലാളികള്‍ക്ക് പകരം വിദേശ ജീവനക്കാരെ നിയമിക്കുന്നുവെന്ന ആരോപണവുമായി വൈസ് പ്രസിഡന്റ് ജെ.ഡി. വാന്‍സും രംഗത്തെത്തി. 2025ല്‍ 6,000 അമേരിക്കന്‍ ജീവനക്കാരെ പിരിച്ചുവിട്ട മൈക്രോസോഫ്റ്റിന് 6,000ത്തിലധികം എച്ച്-1ബി വിസകള്‍ക്ക് അംഗീകാരം ലഭിച്ചെന്നും പിരിച്ചുവിട്ട ജീവനക്കാര്‍ ചെയ്തിരുന്ന ജോലികളുമായി ബന്ധപ്പെട്ട് 3,682 പെര്‍മനന്റ് ലേബര്‍ സര്‍ട്ടിഫിക്കേഷന്‍ അപേക്ഷകള്‍ സമര്‍പ്പിച്ചെന്നും അദ്ദേഹം ആരോപിച്ചു. വിദേശ തൊഴിലാളികളെ നിയമിക്കുന്നതിന് മുമ്പ് അമേരിക്കയില്‍ തൊഴില്‍ ഒഴിവുകള്‍ പരസ്യപ്പെടുത്തണമെന്ന വ്യവസ്ഥ കമ്പനികള്‍ ദുരുപയോഗം ചെയ്യുകയാണെന്നും വാന്‍സ് വിമര്‍ശിച്ചു.

അമേരിക്കന്‍ തൊഴിലവസരങ്ങള്‍ സംരക്ഷിക്കുന്നതിന്റെ ഭാഗമായി വിദേശ കുടിയേറ്റം നിയന്ത്രിക്കാനുള്ള നടപടികള്‍ ട്രംപ് ഭരണകൂടം ശക്തമാക്കുന്നതിനിടെയാണ് പുതിയ തീരുമാനം. എച്ച്-1ബി വിസകളിലൂടെ ഇന്ത്യന്‍ ഐടി പ്രൊഫഷണലുകള്‍ക്ക് അമേരിക്കയില്‍ ജോലി ലഭിക്കുന്നത് ഇന്ത്യന്‍ സാങ്കേതിക മേഖലയെ സംബന്ധിച്ചിടത്തോളം പ്രധാനമാണ്. കഴിഞ്ഞ മാസം എച്ച്-1ബി വിസകള്‍ക്ക് ഒരു ലക്ഷം ഡോളര്‍ ഫീസ് ഏര്‍പ്പെടുത്തുന്ന എക്‌സിക്യൂട്ടീവ് ഉത്തരവിന്റെ കാലാവധി ഒരു വര്‍ഷത്തേക്ക് കൂടി നീട്ടിയതായും റിപ്പോര്‍ട്ടുണ്ട്. പുതിയ നടപടികള്‍ ഇന്ത്യന്‍ ഐടി കമ്പനികളുടെ അമേരിക്കയിലെ നിയമനങ്ങളെയും പ്രവര്‍ത്തനങ്ങളെയും എങ്ങനെ ബാധിക്കുമെന്നത് നിര്‍ണായകമാണ്.

അതേസമയം, ഇന്ത്യന്‍ ഐടി വ്യവസായ സംഘടനയായ നാസ്‌കോം യുഎസ് നടപടിയോട് പ്രതികരിച്ചു. ഇന്ത്യന്‍ ഐടികമ്പനികള്‍ എച്ച്-1ബി വിസകളിലുള്ള ആശ്രിതത്വം ഗണ്യമായി കുറച്ചിട്ടുണ്ടെന്നും അമേരിക്കയില്‍ പ്രാദേശിക നിയമനങ്ങള്‍ വര്‍ധിപ്പിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ടെന്നും സംഘടന വ്യക്തമാക്കി. അമേരിക്കയിലെ പ്രമുഖ കമ്പനികളുടെ വളര്‍ച്ചയ്ക്കും നവീകരണത്തിനും ഇന്ത്യന്‍ ഐടി സ്ഥാപനങ്ങള്‍ വലിയ സംഭാവന നല്‍കുന്നുണ്ടെന്നും പ്രാദേശിക തൊഴിലവസരങ്ങള്‍ സൃഷ്ടിക്കുന്നതില്‍ പങ്കുവഹിക്കുന്നുണ്ടെന്നും നാസ്‌കോം ചൂണ്ടിക്കാട്ടി. പുതിയ നിയന്ത്രണങ്ങള്‍ ഇന്ത്യന്‍ ഐടി മേഖലയ്ക്ക് എത്രത്തോളം തിരിച്ചടിയാകുമെന്നതില്‍ വരും ദിവസങ്ങളില്‍ കൂടുതല്‍ വ്യക്തതയുണ്ടാകും
Sources:nerkazhcha

http://theendtimeradio.com

In a blow to Indian IT majors, the United States on Thursday suspended several companies from the Permanent Labour Certification Programme, which lets firms apply for green cards for H-1B visa workers, arguing that the practice takes away jobs from Americans. The affected companies include Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, and HCL.

US Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling announced the move, which also impacts Western behemoths like Capgemini, Microsoft and Adobe. He was flanked by the head of the US Anti-Fraud Task Force and Vice President JD Vance.

“I am hereby suspending from the Permanent Labour Certification Programme some of the largest IT outsourcing firms in the world, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini,” Sonderling said.

He said the US government will not accept “any new or process” any pending permanent labour certification applications involving these companies.

“Since 2009, just these companies alone have requested almost three million foreign workers. They’ve received over 230,000 H-1B visa approvals and over 100,000 permanent labour certifications,” Sonderling added.

He accused these companies of taking away hundreds of thousands of jobs from American workers.

The programme allows employers to sponsor foreign workers for permanent employment and residency.

Vance slammed Microsoft, calling it a company that abused the system the most.

“Microsoft laid off 6,000 American workers in 2025 after certifying that it could not find qualified American employees – yet the company was approved for more than 6,000 H-1Bs and filed 3,682 PERM applications, including nearly 1,000 applications for the same positions as the laid-off American workers,” the vice president said.

Indian IT professionals bag the lion’s share of the approved H-1B visa applications every year. As part of its larger crackdown against immigration to the US to save American jobs, the Donald Trump administration has been taking measures to make it difficult for companies to hire cost-effective talent from India and other South Asian nations on these temporary visas.

Last month, the Trump administration extended an executive order that would impose a fee of $100,000 for H-1B non-immigrant visas by another year.

JD Vance today called foreign workers hired on H1-B visas “foreign indentured servants” and the companies using the programme as “visa mills”.

He also claimed that “something weird” is underway in universities that sponsor research scholars through the J-1 visa programme.

“Something weird is going on at these universities. They’re using these visas way too much. They’re using them to undercut the wages of American grad students and American researchers,” Vance said.

“This is a fundamental insult to the American worker and to the American way of life. We cannot allow visa programs that were designed to ensure that American corporations had access to the best and the brightest, to use them to undercut the wages of American workers,” he added.

Vance accused the firms, chiefly Microsoft, of subverting due process. He claimed the rules require companies to advertise jobs in America before applying to the Department of Labour that they need foreign workers.

“They’ll put an advertisement in a small-town newspaper. They’ll go out there and say that ‘We have advertised for a position with our company, and nobody is responding to it.’ And they will use that lack of response to then go and replace American workers with what is effectively foreign indentured servants,” he claimed.

NASSCOM Reacts
Industry body NASSCOM said Indian technology companies have reduced their dependence on H-1B visas.

“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,” it said in a statement.

“The H-1B visa programme has historically played an important role in addressing short-term skill gaps in the U.S., and it will continue to be used to address short-term talent gaps. However, over a number of years, Indian technology companies have significantly reduced their dependence on H-1B visas, while steadily expanding local hiring and building a strong domestic workforce in the U.S. They work with majority of the US fortune 500 companies, enable them to innovate and grow, and generate more local jobs,” it added.
 http://theendtimeradio.com

More than 1,000 Christian leaders, community leaders and influencers from 117 countries are arriving in Israel to stand with Oct. 7 survivors, visit massacre sites and carry their testimonies home, Israel365 News reported. (Screengrab image: via Charisma News /Wikimedia Commons)

The Friends of Zion Ambassador Summit, organized in cooperation with Israel’s Foreign Ministry, includes approximately 200 young adults ages 18-29. Participants will meet released hostages, bereaved families, wounded soldiers and Holocaust survivors.

“We want these young leaders to see Israel for themselves, hear directly from those whose lives were changed forever on October 7, and return home with a deeper understanding of Israel and a commitment to standing with the Jewish people,” Friends of Zion founder Mike Evans said, according to Israel365 News.

On Oct. 7, following a visit to Yad Vashem, the delegation will join approximately 2,000 participants at the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount. Released hostages will appear onstage during the anniversary gathering, which organizers say will be broadcast live on dozens of television networks.

The commemoration marks three years since Hamas terrorists killed approximately 1,200 people and took 251 hostages into Gaza.

On Oct. 8, participants will visit the Nova music festival massacre site near Re’im. Released hostages Romi Gonen, Noa Argamani and Elkana Bohbot will meet the delegation and receive the Friends of Zion “Here Am I” Award for their international advocacy.

The delegation also plans to visit ancient Shiloh, where the Tabernacle stood and Samuel heard God’s call.

“The arrival of more than 1,000 Christian leaders from 117 countries carries a powerful message: Israel does not stand alone,” said George Deek, Israel’s special envoy to the Christian world.

“They are coming to bear witness, to meet the people whose lives were shattered on October 7, and to carry their stories back to communities across the world,” Deek said.
Sources: Breaking Christian News

http://theendtimeradio.com

Father, we pray pastors would be bold this election season. Inspire these shepherds to engage politically, to encourage their congregations to do the same, and, most importantly, to refuse the temptation to stay silent.

There are moments when silence carries consequences. I believe the American Church is living in one of those moments right now.

For too many years, Christians were told that faithful citizenship and Biblical engagement with government were somehow outside the proper boundaries of the Church. Pastors were warned away from subjects that might be considered “political.” Congregations learned to separate what happened on Sunday morning from what happened at the ballot box.

And while much of the Church stepped away, our culture did not stand still. The government continued making decisions about human life, marriage, sexuality, children, parental authority, religious liberty, education, justice, and freedom. Policies were enacted. Institutions changed. Cultural assumptions shifted.

We should not be surprised that when Christians remove their voices from the public square, Biblical principles have less influence there. It is time to put our voices back in.

Pastor, Your Voice Matters

I am speaking especially to pastors of every-sized congregation. Whether you shepherd 75 people, 200 people, or 2,000, your voice matters. You do not need a national platform. God has already given you one: your pulpit.

Your congregation contains parents, grandparents, teachers, business owners, community leaders, young adults, and voters. They are making decisions that will help determine who writes our laws and what principles guide our communities. Equip them. Teach them what Scripture says about life, family, sexuality, justice, government, authority, freedom, and responsibility. Teach them to pray for those in authority, to understand the issues confronting our nation, and to evaluate public questions through Scripture rather than social media, political advertising, or cultural pressure.

And teach them that voting is not disconnected from their Christian lives. Our involvement in elections is important because we are citizens, but for Christians, there is something more. We carry Biblical convictions into every sphere God places us, including the public square.

Recently in Virginia, pastors were invited to add their voice to a public letter going to the Virginia legislature speaking against the liberal majority’s desire to enshrine abortion in our state Constitution. Across the state do you know how many pastors were willing to sign this letter? About 20. Only 20 pastors were willing to publicly put a stake in the ground to stand for the Constitutional protection of life to the Virginia Legislature.

We Gave Up Ground

For generations, American Christians benefited from a culture deeply influenced by Biblical principles. But somewhere along the way, many Believers began assuming those principles would remain embedded in the nation whether Christians actively defended them or not.

They did not.

We withdrew, others stepped forward, and America changed. We cannot spend decades removing Biblical voices from government, education, culture, and civic life and then wonder why those institutions increasingly reflect values contrary to Scripture. This is not a moment for Christians to retreat further. It is a moment to reengage.

The Pulpit Once Helped Shape America

This would not have seemed unusual to many pastors in America’s founding era. Clergy preached about liberty, government, moral responsibility, and the great public questions confronting their generation. Ministers served as chaplains, wrote pamphlets, participated in legislatures and constitutional conventions, and helped form the moral understanding of the people who were building a nation.

The American pulpit helped form the American conscience. We need courageous pulpits again.

Southern Baptist Convention President Willy Rice recently issued a remarkably simple challenge:

“I think the pastors need to step up.”

He is right. Many of the questions confronting America are not merely political questions. They are questions about what it means to be human, what human life is worth, what marriage is, what responsibilities parents possess, what freedom means, what government may rightfully do, and where authority ultimately comes from.

Those are profoundly Biblical questions. Pastors should not surrender them because politicians are debating them.

Prayer Must Move Us to Action

At Intercessors for America, we believe deeply in prayer. But Biblical prayer does not train us to become passive spectators. Nehemiah prayed and then approached the king. Esther fasted and then walked into the king’s presence. Daniel prayed and faithfully represented God’s truth inside the government of Babylon. The apostles prayed and then went out and spoke boldly.

Prayer prepares God’s people for obedience and action. We cannot pray for righteous government and then ignore the opportunity we have to participate in choosing those who govern. We cannot pray for the protection of children and remain uninformed about policies affecting them. We cannot pray for religious liberty and then neglect elections in which those freedoms are affected. Prayer should sharpen our discernment and move us toward faithful action.

Pastors, Lead

This is my appeal to America’s pastors: preach Biblical truth boldly and teach your congregation how Scripture applies to the issues confronting our nation. Talk about the sanctity of human life, marriage and family, children and parental responsibility, religious liberty, justice, government, and the responsibilities of citizenship.

Help people register to vote. Make sure they know when elections are taking place. Encourage them to research candidates, their records, their stated positions, and the policies they support. Urge them to pray for discernment and to carry their Biblical convictions with them when they vote. Do not assume someone else will do it. You are the shepherd God has placed before your congregation. Lead.

Christians, Show Up

And to Christians sitting in America’s pews, I would say this: we need to show up. We need to pray and then take the time to learn what is happening in our communities, our states, and our nation. We need to understand the issues, examine the records and positions of those seeking office, seek God for discernment, and vote according to Biblical conviction.

But our responsibility does not end when we leave the voting booth. Christians should be willing to speak up, contact elected officials, serve in their communities, attend school board and local government meetings, and encourage Believers with wisdom and courage to consider public service. We should teach our children and grandchildren that citizenship is a stewardship, not a spectator sport. If Christians continually surrender their place in the public square, we should not be surprised when the vacuum is filled by values radically different from our own.

The Consequences Will Outlive Us

We are making decisions today whose consequences our children and grandchildren may live with for generations. Some political decisions can be reversed in the next election. Others become embedded in law, education, government bureaucracies, institutions, and eventually the thinking of an entire generation. Once that happens, recovering what has been lost can take decades.

That is why I believe this moment demands more from the Church than concern. It demands prayer that leads to discernment, courage, engagement, and action. Our very existence as the nation we have known is at stake, and I do not believe that is an overstatement. A nation can drift so far from its foundational principles that recovering them becomes the work of generations—if they can be recovered at all.

Christians cannot control every outcome, but we are responsible for what God has placed in our hands. We have a voice and the freedom to use it. We have influence in our families, churches, communities, and government. We have the privilege of bringing our petitions before God in prayer. And in America, we have been entrusted with a vote.

It is time to use all of them.

We Have Been at a Crossroads Before

The film “A Great Awakening” offers a powerful reminder that America has faced moments before when our future seemed uncertain and human wisdom appeared insufficient. The film depicts the remarkable relationship between evangelist George Whitefield and Benjamin Franklin and ultimately brings us to an extraordinary moment in 1787, when delegates to the Constitutional Convention were struggling to agree upon the framework of our new government.

The delegates had been meeting for weeks. They were deeply divided over representation and the structure of the government they were attempting to create. Progress had slowed, frustrations were mounting, and the future of the Convention was uncertain.

It was into that atmosphere that the 81-year-old Benjamin Franklin rose to speak.

The scene portrayed in “A Great Awakening” is not simply a filmmaker’s invention. Franklin’s address was recorded in James Madison’s notes of the Constitutional Convention. Franklin reminded the delegates that during the struggle for independence, when the young nation faced seemingly impossible circumstances, they had repeatedly sought God together in prayer.

Then he asked a question that should speak to America today:

“And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? Or do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance?”

Franklin continued:

“The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men.”

Franklin then invoked the truth expressed in Psalm 127—that unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. His message to those delegates was unmistakable. They possessed extraordinary intelligence, education, political experience, and some of the greatest minds of their generation, but human wisdom alone would not be enough to secure the future of the nation they were attempting to build.

Think about that moment.

These men were wrestling with whether this unprecedented experiment in self-government could survive. Yet in the midst of their deliberations, Franklin stood before them and acknowledged their dependence upon God.

I believe America has arrived at another such crossroads.

We cannot simply look to Washington, political parties, candidates, elections, courts, or human strategies to rescue our nation. We desperately need God. But seeking God has never meant withdrawing from the responsibilities He has placed before us. Franklin called those delegates to prayer in the very room where they were actively wrestling with the practical work of building a government.

That is the combination the Church needs to recover: dependence upon God coupled with faithful action.

Pastors, this is your moment to help awaken the Church. Teach your people to pray, but also teach them to stand. Help them understand what is happening in our nation and what Scripture says about it. Equip them to examine candidates and policies through the lens of Biblical truth, to participate in government, to speak when Biblical values are threatened, and to faithfully exercise the vote entrusted to them.

And Christians, do not leave the future of this nation entirely in someone else’s hands. Seek God. Know His Word. Understand the issues. Examine those who seek authority over you. Carry your Biblical convictions into the voting booth and into every other place where God has given you influence.

Nearly 240 years ago, when America’s founders found themselves struggling to determine the future of a young nation, Franklin asked them a question that reaches across the centuries:

“And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend?”

May our answer be no.

May the Church remember its responsibility. May pastors recover their voices. May Christians recover the understanding that our citizenship is a stewardship. May we seek God fervently for our nation and then have the courage to act upon the responsibilities He has placed before us.

We have prayed. We must continue to pray. But this is also a time to stand, speak, engage, and vote.

Perhaps what America needs at this critical crossroads is exactly what the title of the film suggests: A great awakening.
Sources: Breaking Christian News

http://theendtimeradio.com