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Trump administration suspends green cards for tech giants

The Trump administration moved last week to crack down on a long-favored green card program used by large tech companies, which allowed them to bring in foreign workers to supposedly bolster the talent pool. The U.S. suspended Microsoft and major IT outsourcers, as well as software maker Adobe, from filing PERM applications, while opening probes into nine top universities, in a widening crackdown aimed to target fraud and protect American jobs.

While the administration has pursued broad-based efforts to curtail the number of foreign-born people entering the country, President Donald Trump has long had mixed opinions on the H-1B visa program, which allows companies to hire foreign workers to fill skilled positions, openly opposing it in 2016, though softening his stance in late 2024.

The move last Thursday is the broadest strike yet against skilled worker immigration programs, potentially cutting off a frequently used path of foreign tech workers to gain U.S. citizenship. Microsoft, Adobe and other tech giants have long used a green card program to sponsor H-1B visa workers for permanent residency green cards.

“There has been no company in the United States, unfortunately, that has abused the system more than Microsoft,” said Vice President JD Vance.

He said the company laid off 6,000 American workers last year while benefiting from 6,300 H-1B temporary worker visas and nearly 3,000 green cards.

Microsoft files the largest number of permanent labor certification, or PERM, applications, according to data provided by the U.S. Labor Department. Under PERM, which most employment-based green cards require, employers must demonstrate a foreign worker will not hurt U.S. worker’s wages or jobs.

As of June 2026, Microsoft filed over 6,800 PERM applications, more than double the amount filed by Apple or Intel. The company said in a statement that approximately 80% of the H-1B applications it filed in the prior fiscal year were to extend or change the status of current employees, not to hire new workers.

In a press statement, Microsoft said it “succeeds as a global technology leader by developing the world’s best technology workforce. We do this by strengthening this country’s talent pipeline, hiring American workers, and attracting the best talent from around the world.”

In July, Microsoft announced it would cut 4,800 jobs, or about 2.1% of its global workforce.

Critics of H-1B visa hiring practices and PERM in particular claim the program allows companies to recruit foreign workers, thus taking away jobs from Americans. Vance alleges Microsoft employees were laid off and replaced by “foreign indentured servants” who “are earning wages that are far below the average for American citizens.”

Vance continued in his criticism of the tech giant.

“So, in the last year, Microsoft—and I want to be clear about the data here, so let me check this—but Microsoft laid off last year 6,000 American workers,” said Vance. “At the same time, the company benefitted from 6,100 H-1B visas and almost 3,000 green cards.”

“In other words, if you do the math, for every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants.”

Microsoft responded by stating “the vast majority of Microsoft employees in the United States are Americans,” and that they “only file H-1B petitions for those who meet the rigorous standards of this visa category.”

“We pay our employees some of the highest compensation in the tech sector, and our wages are among the highest of all H-1B filings. We pay our H-1B employees the same as any other employees doing comparable work.”

Vance’s comments came just hours before Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was awarded the Medal of Technology and Innovation by President Trump during an event at the Institute of Peace.

Trump praised Nadella for revolutionizing Microsoft and “empowering businesses, students and consumers from all over the world with some of the most capable software ever built or ever even conceived.”

Vance, in turn, acknowledged that “Microsoft is a great American company, and we have a great relationship with them. They do a lot of important things,” Vance said. “So, we’re going to continue to support Microsoft and have a great relationship with Microsoft, but we’re also going to deny them the ability to apply for these permanent residencies until they show that they are going to get serious about putting American workers first.”

Nadella once held an H-1B visa, as did Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who was also present at the event and received an honor.

Vance has stated that the H-1B visa program has been “rife with fraud over the last several years, probably the last several decades,” and that the imposed suspension will stay in place “as long as it needs to.”

The suspension will also cover other companies, including Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, and others, as Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling stated: We will not accept any new or process any pending permanent labor certification applications involving these companies.”

In addition to the tech giants, nine universities, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, would be investigated for what the administration called the misuse of exchange visitor visas to undercut American wages.

Labor Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito said investigators would examine whether foreign influence, improper financial relationships or visa abuse were compromising federally funded research.

D’Esposito stated some subpoenas have already been served.