The Trump administration is excluding one of the largest tech companies in the U.S. from a significant green card initiative due to allegations of visa fraud.
“Last year, Microsoft let go of 6,000 American employees. Meanwhile, the company also acquired 6,300 H-1B visas,” Vance stated during a press conference revealing the suspension. “You can’t fire American workers and then replace them with foreign labor under unfavorable conditions.”
“For every American worker that was laid off, Microsoft ended up hiring one and a half foreign workers,” Vance further added.
The H-1B visa program, established in 1990, allows U.S. employers to temporarily hire foreign nationals for specialized roles.
Many American tech workers have long voiced concerns that companies misuse visa programs to supplant them with cheaper foreign labor. Jonathan, a cybersecurity expert who left the industry, reported not receiving any job offers after applying to over 200 positions following his layoff in November 2024.
Another individual, John, who worked in IT at a Connecticut insurance firm, mentioned that during his ten years with the company, approximately 350 American IT workers were gradually replaced with foreigners.
“Usually, they required us to train our Indian replacements before we left as a prerequisite to receive our severance,” he noted.
Joseph Ibrahim, an unemployed tech worker from Florida, expressed disappointment, recalling that he was assured in high school that coding would lead to solid job opportunities. “It’s frustrating to find out they also outsource coding jobs, not just manufacturing roles,” he remarked.
To sponsor most foreign employees for a green card, companies need to demonstrate to the Labor Department that hiring them won’t negatively affect American jobs or wages. This process is known as permanent labor certification, or PERM.
The freeze on issuing green cards extends beyond Microsoft, also impacting Adobe and six IT companies: Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies, and Capgemini, according to Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling.
The White House directed inquiries to the Vice President’s office for comments, but Vance’s office did not respond immediately.
In a response to the Daily Caller News Foundation, Microsoft challenged Vance’s interpretation of its hiring practices. “Out of the nearly 6,000 H-1B visa applications we submitted last fiscal year, about 80% were for extending or altering the status of current Microsoft employees,” Microsoft stated in its press release. “These applications were not for new hires. The remaining filings for new personnel were for individuals already legally residing in the U.S. and made up only 1% of our U.S. workforce.”
Microsoft previously mentioned in a memo from July 6 that it was cutting approximately 4,800 positions, which constitutes around 2.1% of its global employee base.
Notably, Trump presented Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation at the “Science: A New Golden Age” summit at the White House on Thursday, recognizing “exemplary achievement and leadership in science and technology,” according to official statements.
