Trump Administration Suspends Microsoft, Adobe and Six IT Firms from Green Card Application Program Over H-1B Fraud Allegations

The Trump administration announced Thursday that it is suspending Microsoft, Adobe, and six major IT outsourcing firms, including Cognizant, Infosys, and Tata, from the PERM program, which allows H-1B visa holders to apply for permanent residency green cards. Vice President JD Vance made the announcement at a White House briefing in Washington, calling out Microsoft by name as the worst offender. "There has been no company in the United States, unfortunately, that has abused this system more than Microsoft," Vance said.

Vance accused the affected companies of laying off American workers and replacing them with lower-cost foreign workers on H-1B visas, describing the arrangement as a form of indentured servitude. "If you do the math, for every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants," he said. The suspension from the PERM labor certification program effectively blocks these companies from sponsoring H-1B workers for green cards, cutting off a key pathway their foreign employees use to obtain permanent U.S. residency.

The action is part of a broader push by the Trump administration against foreign worker visa programs. The announcement came one day after the administration moved against international students and their ability to work in the United States, and separately the administration launched probes into nine colleges over J-1 visa usage while also hiking costs for foreign students. The H-1B program has long drawn criticism from Trump supporters who argue it undercuts American wages and is subject to systematic abuse by large technology and outsourcing companies.