US suspends Microsoft, Adobe, and IT firms from green card sponsorship program

The Trump administration has suspended Microsoft, Adobe, and several major IT outsourcing firms from the Permanent Labor Certification Program (PERM) following allegations of visa fraud and the displacement of American workers.

U.S. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling and Vice President JD Vance announced on Thursday that the government will stop processing new and pending green card applications for eight specific companies. The suspension affects Microsoft, Adobe, and prominent IT firms including Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini. Sonderling stated the move stems from ongoing federal investigations and accused the companies of turning into "visa mills" that flood the country with foreign labor.

Vice President Vance claimed Microsoft has been the most frequent abuser of the system, alleging the company laid off approximately 6,000 workers while filing for thousands of H-1B visas and green cards. Vance argued that companies bypass requirements to hire Americans by placing advertisements in small-town newspapers where they expect no response, using the lack of applicants to justify hiring what he termed "foreign indentured servants."

Microsoft has pushed back against these allegations, stating that 80% of its H-1B filings over the last fiscal year were to extend or change the status of existing employees already based in the U.S. A company spokeswoman told the BBC that the vast majority of its U.S. workforce is American and that international hires are paid compensation equivalent to local staff. According to Al Jazeera, Microsoft noted that its new visa filings for the year represent only 1% of its domestic workforce.

The Department of Labor reported uncovering $22 billion in visa fraud related to these programs. While the administration focused its criticism on Microsoft, Al Jazeera noted that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data identifies Amazon as the top user of H-1B visas, with Microsoft ranked fifth. The announcement occurred just hours before President Trump was scheduled to present the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

Background

The Permanent Labor Certification Program (PERM) requires companies to prove a lack of qualified U.S. workers before sponsoring foreign employees for permanent residency. Technology firms are the primary users of the H-1B visa program, which serves as a precursor to the PERM process and is capped at 85,000 visas annually.