Trump Administration Suspends Microsoft From Green Card Program Over H-1B Use

The Trump administration announced Thursday it is suspending Microsoft and several other companies from a program that allows foreign workers to apply for green cards, escalating its pressure on employers that hire international talent. Vice President JD Vance, speaking at a White House news conference, accused Microsoft of abusing the H-1B visa system and replacing laid-off American workers with what he called «foreign indentured servants.»

The program in question requires companies to advertise jobs in the United States before applying to the Department of Labor to show they need to sponsor a foreign worker for a green card because of a lack of qualified American applicants. Vance said Microsoft has exploited that process more than any other company. «They’ll put an advertisement in a small-town newspaper,» he said. «They’ll go out there and say that ‘We have advertised for a position with our company, and nobody is responding to it.’ And they will use that lack of response to then go and replace American workers with what is effectively foreign indentured servants.»

According to Vance, Microsoft laid off 6,000 American workers last year while obtaining 6,300 H-1B visas and nearly 3,000 green cards. «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. «Our message to Microsoft is: You’re a great American company, but you’ve got to hire great American workers.»

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, pushed back on the characterization. The company said it looks forward to «providing the Administration with additional information.» Of the roughly 6,000 H-1B visa applications it submitted in the last fiscal year, Microsoft said 80% were «to extend or change the status of existing Microsoft employees.» The company added that «these were not to hire new people.» The remaining filings for new employees were for individuals already legally in the United States who decided to join Microsoft, and they equal only 1% of the company’s U.S. workforce. «They are not new arrivals to our country,» Microsoft said, adding that it only files H-1B petitions for «those who meet the rigorous standards of this visa category.»

The announcement also took aim at universities that bring international students to the U.S. on J-1 exchange visas and at information technology outsourcing firms. It came hours before President Donald Trump was scheduled to award the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, part of an event honoring tech industry leaders.

The H-1B program has long been a target of Trump supporters who argue it undercuts American workers and is rife with abuse. The visas are intended for high-skilled jobs that are difficult to fill with American workers, and technology companies are the biggest users. Nearly three-quarters of approvals go to workers from India. Microsoft ranks fifth among U.S. employers for H-1B visa use, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data. Amazon is first.

Vance argued that H-1B workers are effectively indentured servants because if they lose their job, they must leave the country, and they often earn less than Americans in the same position. Doug Rand, a former senior adviser at USCIS during the Biden administration, called the announcement «incoherent.» He said that if the administration were truly concerned about H-1B workers being indentured servants, it would not block companies from helping those workers get green cards. «Once you have a green card, you’re no longer dependent on your employer for your immigration status — you’re a permanent resident who can change jobs and negotiate higher wages without fear,» Rand said.

The administration has previously tried to raise the fee for H-1B work visas to $100,000, saying it would protect American workers, but a federal judge struck that down in June. In August, the administration proposed a new fee of $103,265, describing it as a «dedicated revenue mechanism to help recover a portion of the federal government’s costs of administering the lawful immigration system.» That rule is not yet final and is expected to face legal challenges.

Ron Hira, a Howard University political science professor and longtime critic of the H-1B program, called the move against Microsoft «very significant.» He noted that the White House last month issued a little-noticed executive order directing government agencies to «implement appropriate measures to protect American workers from abuse of the H-1B program and ensure that the program serves the national interest.»

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Caroline Mercer

World News Correspondent

Caroline Mercer covers public affairs, politics, business, culture and daily news for Core Memo. The role focuses on verification, context, and clear explanations for readers.

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