In a move that lays bare the contradictions of governing a globally wired economy through a nationalist lens, the Trump administration suspended Adobe, Microsoft, and major IT outsourcing firms from sponsoring foreign workers for permanent residency — a pathway known as PERM. Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling framed the action as a reckoning with systemic abuse, while Vice President Vance singled out Microsoft by name. Yet within hours, President Trump placed the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in the hands of Microsoft's own CEO — a gesture that quietly asked whether America can
Trump administration suspends Adobe, Microsoft from foreign worker visa program
We are cutting off the head of the snake.
Mark
Why suspend these companies specifically? What made them stand out?
Mimi
The data did. Microsoft alone approved 6,260 PERM applications in a single year—more than double Apple's. That volume caught the administration's attention and became the justification for the freeze.
Luke
But we should note: the administration says they abused the system, but what does abuse actually mean here? The PERM program exists legally. These companies used it. Is the claim that they used it too much, or that the program itself is wrong?
Mark
That's the tension, isn't it? They're saying companies are choosing foreign workers over Americans.
Mimi
Right. The Secretary of Labor framed it as companies creating a direct path to citizenship while "passing on American labor." The administration sees it as a choice—hire foreign, get green card sponsorship.
Luke
Except we don't know from this reporting whether these companies actually rejected American applicants for these positions. We know the volume of PERM filings. We don't know the hiring decisions behind them.
Mark
So what about the H-1B criticism? Vance went after that too.
Mimi
He did, but here's where it gets strange: Amazon filed for more H-1B visas than Microsoft—nearly triple—but Amazon wasn't suspended. So the administration is targeting PERM specifically, not H-1B.
Luke
Which suggests this is about permanent residency, not temporary work visas. The administration seems more concerned about foreign workers staying and settling than about temporary skilled labor.
Mark
And then Trump gives Nadella a medal the same day.
Mimi
Hours later, actually. Nadella thanks him, doesn't mention the suspension.
Luke
We should be careful here. One company responded to comment. We don't know how Adobe, Infosys, or the others view this. We have one statement from Microsoft and a lot of administration rhetoric. The full picture of how these companies are responding is incomplete.
Il Polso
- The Trump administration abruptly suspended some of tech's biggest names — including Adobe, Microsoft, Cognizant, and Infosys — from filing new green card sponsorship applications, effective immediately, with all pending cases frozen.
- Vice President Vance publicly accused Microsoft of abusing the system more than any other company, citing its 6,260 PERM approvals in a single year — more than double Apple's — while Amazon, which filed even more H-1B visas, escaped the suspension entirely.
- The Labor Department's language left little room for negotiation: Secretary Sonderling declared the action was 'cutting off the head of the snake,' signaling this was not a warning but a verdict.
- Microsoft pushed back quietly, noting that the vast majority of its workforce are U.S. citizens — but declined to address the raw volume of its foreign worker filings that drew the administration's fire.
- Hours after the suspension, President Trump honored Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, a collision of reward and punishment that exposed the administration's unresolved relationship with the very industry it is targeting.
In a move that lays bare the contradictions of governing a globally wired economy through a nationalist lens, the Trump administration suspended Adobe, Microsoft, and major IT outsourcing firms from sponsoring foreign workers for permanent residency — a pathway known as PERM. Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling framed the action as a reckoning with systemic abuse, while Vice President Vance singled out Microsoft by name. Yet within hours, President Trump placed the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in the hands of Microsoft's own CEO — a gesture that quietly asked whether America can simultaneously celebrate the architects of its technological dominance and restrict the global labor that sustains it.
On Thursday, the Trump administration suspended some of the country's largest technology companies — including Adobe and Microsoft — from sponsoring foreign workers for permanent U.S. residency through the PERM program. Major IT outsourcing firms such as Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini were also targeted. All pending applications were halted immediately.
Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling announced the action at a news conference, accusing the companies of exploiting PERM to create a direct route to citizenship while bypassing American workers. His language was unsparing: 'We are cutting off the head of the snake.' Vice President JD Vance went further, singling out Microsoft as the program's most egregious abuser — the company had received approval for 6,260 PERM applications between June 2025 and June 2026, more than double Apple's 2,676. Notably, Amazon — which filed nearly triple Microsoft's H-1B visa numbers — was not included in the suspension.
Microsoft was the only targeted company to respond publicly, stating that the vast majority of its employees are U.S. citizens — a rebuttal to the administration's framing that stopped short of addressing the sheer volume of its filings.
The day's most striking moment came hours after the announcement, when President Trump awarded Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, praising him as a 'key figure' behind 'some of the most capable software ever built.' Nadella thanked the president on social media without mentioning the suspension. The image of a company penalized in the morning and celebrated by afternoon captured, in miniature, the administration's unresolved tension: a deep reliance on the tech industry's global ambitions, and a growing determination to constrain them.
On Thursday, the Trump administration moved to suspend some of the country's largest technology companies from sponsoring foreign workers for permanent residency, marking an escalation in the administration's effort to restrict immigration pathways in the tech sector. Adobe, headquartered in the Bay Area, and Microsoft, which maintains significant offices across the region despite being based in Washington state, were among the most prominent names targeted in the crackdown. The suspension bars these companies—along with major IT outsourcing and consulting firms including Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini—from filing new applications through the PERM program, the permanent labor certification pathway that allows employers to sponsor foreign nationals for green cards and permanent U.S. residency.
Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling announced the action at a Thursday news conference, framing the suspension as a necessary response to what he characterized as systematic abuse of the visa program. He stated that companies had been exploiting PERM to create a direct route to citizenship while bypassing American workers. The department indicated that all pending applications would be halted and not processed. Sonderling's language was blunt: "We are cutting off the head of the snake."
The data underlying the crackdown painted Microsoft as the most aggressive user of the program. According to reporting from Reuters, Microsoft filed and received approval for 6,260 PERM applications between June 2025 and June 2026—more than double the number approved for Apple, which ranked second with 2,676. Intel, Tata, and Oracle followed with 2,409, 2,305, and 2,224 approved applications respectively. Vice President JD Vance, speaking at the same news conference, singled out Microsoft, saying no other company "has abused the system" more severely. Vance also criticized the broader tech industry's reliance on H-1B visas, which allow companies to hire skilled foreign workers on a temporary basis without offering a pathway to permanent residency. Notably, Amazon—which Reuters reported has filed for more H-1B visas than Microsoft, nearly tripling its numbers—was not included in the suspension.
The PERM application process typically takes nearly a year to complete, according to the Department of Labor. Of the companies targeted, only Microsoft responded to requests for comment. The company stated that the "vast majority" of its employees were U.S. citizens, offering a direct rebuttal to the administration's framing without addressing the specific volume of its PERM filings.
The suspension exposed a fundamental tension within the Trump administration's approach to the technology sector. Hours after the announcement, President Trump awarded Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. Trump praised Nadella as a "key figure" in Microsoft's history and described the company's software as "some of the most capable software ever built." Nadella responded via social media, thanking the president and expressing his humility at standing alongside other American innovators, but made no mention of his company's newly imposed restrictions. The juxtaposition—a major company suspended from hiring foreign workers in the morning, its leader honored by the president in the afternoon—illustrated the administration's simultaneous dependence on and skepticism toward the tech industry's global workforce practices.
Citazioni salienti
The vast majority of Microsoft's employees are U.S. citizens— Microsoft statement
No other company has abused the system more than Microsoft— Vice President JD Vance
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