U.S. to suspend Microsoft, others from green card program

By Natalie Andrews, Philip Wegmann and Michelle Hackman Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the administration is suspending several tech firms, including Microsoft, from a program that allows H-1B visa holders to apply for green cards. The action by Vance's antifraud task force targets Microsoft, Adobe and several tech recruiting companies over what officials have alleged are widespread abuses of the visa system. The announcement comes the same day as President Trump is set to recognize Microsoft's CEO at an event. S.

citizens only to replace them with foreign workers brought into the country on H-1B visas. " A Microsoft spokeswoman said the company plans to send the administration more information. S. are American citizens and that of the approximately 6,000 H-1B visa applications it submitted in the last fiscal year, 80% were for existing Microsoft employees.

"Microsoft only files H-1B petitions for those who meet the rigorous standards of this visa category," said spokeswoman Kate Frischmann. "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. " Adobe didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. S.

for highly skilled foreign workers, making it an engine of the tech industry and startup ecosystem. Visa holders can eventually become eligible to apply for green cards, which let them stay in the country indefinitely. The program has come under increasing scrutiny from Republicans, however, as the Trump administration tries to compel companies to hire Americans. The problem, the program's critics say, is that companies aren't required to show that no Americans are suitable for a particular job before they hire a foreign professional on an H-1B.

Vance has previously said that the H-1B program "is completely broken" and signaled that he would support eliminating the temporary visa program entirely. S. before the H-1B program was created, but arrived as students and stayed. S.

should focus on improving things here. "Look, I am married to the daughter of immigrants from India and, you know, I love my in-laws and they're great people and they've been great contributors to the USA," Vance said at the event in April. The system works only when everyone thinks of themselves as Americans," he added. Companies can employ someone on an H-1B for a maximum of six years and then must then sponsor them for a green card to keep them.

The employment-based green card process, unlike the H-1B, requires that the company perform a "labor market test" to ensure that no Americans are qualified to fill the job in question. The Trump administration has alleged that companies game this process to keep their existing employees by advertising jobs for green-card holders more narrowly than other job listings. The tech industry has countered these claims by arguing that, even though they advertise an immigrant employee's job more narrowly, they are simply following the guidelines set out in the law.

Tech companies have also said it is difficult to find an American with the precise skill set of an employee who has worked in the role for years. Still, the administration has brought cases against several companies saying this green card process treats immigrants preferentially over American citizens. The Justice Department has settled with several major tech companies, including OpenAI and Meta. Under the law, the Labor Department can also suspend companies from being eligible to use the employment-based green card process altogether, but only after they have followed a process allowing the company to respond.

Asked about Trump's plan to award Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, Vance said that the administration didn't want to harm the company but send them a message that they ought to hire Americans over foreign workers. "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," he said. S. in exchange for legal status.

Vance said those universities merited further investigation, and Anthony D'Esposito, the Labor Department's inspector general, threatened legal action and said he had sent subpoenas to them. "I don't care how prestigious a university thinks it is," said D'Esposito. com (END) Dow Jones Newswires October 08, 2026 13:22 ET (17:22 GMT) Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. The statements in this document shall not be considered as an objective or independent explanation of the matters.

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