Vance Suspends Microsoft and Adobe From a Green-Card Program — Hours Later Trump Gives Nadella a Medal

The Trump administration suspended Microsoft, Adobe and six major IT outsourcing firms from the PERM green-card sponsorship program, alleging visa fraud — then honored Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella with the National Medal of Technology hours later.

The Trump administration has suspended Microsoft, Adobe and a group of major IT outsourcing firms from the federal program that employers use to sponsor foreign workers for permanent residency, alleging they abused the visa system at the expense of American workers.

Vice President JD Vance and Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling announced the move at a Thursday news conference on H-1B and J-1 "visa fraud." Sonderling said the Labor Department "will not accept any new or process any pending permanent labor certification applications" from the companies — Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini.

Vance singled out Microsoft, saying the company laid off 6,000 American workers last year while holding 6,300 H-1B visas and nearly 3,000 green cards. "For every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants," he said, calling it a "scandalous system." Sonderling noted the eight companies had requested almost 3 million foreign workers since 2009, receiving more than 230,000 H-1B approvals and 100,000 permanent labor certifications.

Microsoft pushed back within hours. In a blog post, the company said "the vast majority of Microsoft employees in the United States are Americans." It said roughly 80% of the about 6,000 H-1B applications it filed last fiscal year were to extend or change the status of existing employees rather than hire new people, and that the remaining petitions were for people already legally in the U.S. — equal to just 1% of its domestic workforce. A Business Insider analysis found Microsoft filed more certified PERM applications than any other employer in the first three quarters of the fiscal year, with 1,504, plus 174 for its LinkedIn and Activision subsidiaries.

The crackdown extends beyond companies. Vance announced investigations into nine universities — including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT and Caltech — over allegations they misused J-1 exchange visas, and the Labor Department's inspector general said subpoenas had already been served. Attorney General Todd Blanche warned criminal cases could follow.

The day's symbolism was hard to miss: at a White House event celebrating American science, President Trump awarded Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, which Business Insider reported came hours after the same administration accused his company of visa fraud.

Sources: Fox Business | Business Insider | Microsoft