In a move that reframes immigration enforcement as labour protection, the US government suspended eight major technology firms—including Microsoft, Adobe, and five Indian IT companies—from the programme that allows employers to sponsor foreign workers for permanent residency. Vice President JD Vance, citing layoffs of American workers running parallel to mass visa sponsorships, argued that the H-1B system has become less a bridge for genuine talent and more a mechanism for suppressing wages. The action freezes green card pathways for thousands of foreign workers mid-process, and signals that t
US Suspends Microsoft, 7 Others From Green Card Program Over Worker Replacement
Hundreds of thousands of American workers displaced by foreign visa holders earning significantly lower wages, according to government data.
For every worker Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants.
Mark
So the government is saying these companies laid off Americans and then hired foreigners at lower wages. That's the core accusation?
Mimi
Yes, and the numbers are striking. Microsoft laid off 6,000 workers in one year while sponsoring 6,300 H-1B visas. The timing and scale suggest a deliberate pattern.
Luke
But we should note—Microsoft says 80 percent of those visa applications were for existing employees changing status, not new hires. That's a material distinction the government hasn't directly addressed.
Mark
So the suspension affects their ability to sponsor green cards going forward. What does that mean for the workers already here on H-1B visas?
Mimi
They're stuck. If they were hoping to transition to permanent residency through their employer, that door just closed. They can't stay long-term without a green card sponsor.
Luke
And we don't know how many workers are in that position—the reporting doesn't give us a number of affected individuals, just the aggregate visa approvals over time.
Mark
The wage gap is striking—$20,000 to $48,000 less per year. Is that gap actually illegal, or is the government just saying it shouldn't happen?
Mimi
The government is treating it as evidence of abuse—that companies are deliberately underpaying foreign workers to undercut American wages. But Microsoft disputes that, saying it pays H-1B workers the same as Americans in the same roles.
Luke
And we can't independently verify either claim from this reporting. We have the government's figures and Microsoft's statement, but no third-party wage analysis.
Mark
What about the other seven companies? Are they saying anything?
Mimi
The reporting doesn't include responses from Adobe, Capgemini, or the Indian IT firms. We're only hearing from Microsoft and the government.
Luke
That's a significant gap. We're getting one side of the story from most of the companies affected.
Mark
What happens next? Can these companies appeal the suspension?
Mimi
The reporting doesn't say. It's unclear whether this is permanent or if there's a process for reinstatement.
Der Puls
- Eight companies—including Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, and HCL—have been barred from sponsoring foreign workers for green cards, effective immediately.
- The government's numbers are pointed: Microsoft shed 6,000 American jobs while gaining approval for 6,300 H-1B visas, a ratio Vance called not coincidental but calculated.
- Wage data sharpens the tension—H-1B workers earn up to $48,000 less annually than American peers in the same roles, creating a structural incentive to replace rather than supplement domestic labour.
- Labour Secretary Sonderling labelled the suspended firms 'visa mills,' citing nearly 3 million foreign worker requests and over 100,000 permanent labour certifications across the eight companies since 2009.
- Microsoft pushed back, insisting 80% of its H-1B filings were renewals for existing staff and that it pays foreign and domestic workers equally—a direct contradiction of the government's framing.
- Thousands of H-1B workers currently awaiting green cards through these employers now find their path to permanence frozen, caught between a corporate dispute and a policy reckoning.
In a move that reframes immigration enforcement as labour protection, the US government suspended eight major technology firms—including Microsoft, Adobe, and five Indian IT companies—from the programme that allows employers to sponsor foreign workers for permanent residency. Vice President JD Vance, citing layoffs of American workers running parallel to mass visa sponsorships, argued that the H-1B system has become less a bridge for genuine talent and more a mechanism for suppressing wages. The action freezes green card pathways for thousands of foreign workers mid-process, and signals that the administration intends to treat immigration policy and labour policy as inseparable.
On Thursday, the US government suspended eight technology companies from the Permanent Labour Certification Programme, the mechanism through which employers sponsor foreign workers for green cards. Vice President JD Vance named Microsoft, Adobe, Capgemini, and five major Indian IT firms—Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, and HCL—as the targets, framing the action as a correction to what he described as systemic abuse of the H-1B visa system.
Vance's case rested on numbers. Microsoft, he said, laid off 6,000 American workers in the past year while simultaneously receiving approval for 6,300 H-1B visas and nearly 3,000 green card certifications. He called Microsoft the single greatest abuser of the system in the country. Underlying the hiring arithmetic was a wage gap: H-1B workers earn roughly $20,000 less annually than American counterparts in equivalent roles, and workers brought in through foreign outsourcing firms earn as much as $48,000 less. Vance argued this disparity is not incidental—it is the incentive.
Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling called the suspension historic, describing a 'pipeline of systemic fraud' in which companies and universities function as 'visa mills,' promoting foreign workers with falsified credentials into roles that should go to Americans. Across the eight suspended firms, he said, nearly 3 million foreign worker requests had been filed since 2009, yielding over 230,000 H-1B approvals and more than 100,000 permanent labour certifications.
Microsoft disputed the government's characterisation, stating that 80 percent of its recent H-1B applications were renewals or status changes for workers already on staff—not new hires displacing Americans. The company also maintained that it pays H-1B employees on par with domestic workers and that its wages are among the highest in the sector.
The immediate consequence of the suspension is a frozen pathway: H-1B workers at these eight firms who were mid-process in seeking permanent residency now have no employer-sponsored route forward. More broadly, the action marks a deliberate shift in how the administration reads the visa system—not as a tool for filling genuine skill shortages, but as a structure that, left unchecked, trades American jobs for cheaper foreign labour.
On Thursday, the US government suspended eight companies from the Permanent Labour Certification Programme—a system that allows employers to sponsor foreign workers for green cards. The action targeted three major American technology firms: Microsoft, Adobe, and Capgemini, alongside five Indian IT companies: Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, and HCL. Vice President JD Vance framed the suspension as a necessary correction to what he called systemic abuse of the H-1B visa system, a program that brings skilled workers into the country on temporary visas.
Vance's case against Microsoft was specific and numerical. In the past year, the company laid off 6,000 American workers while simultaneously benefiting from 6,300 H-1B visa approvals and nearly 3,000 green card certifications. The math, as Vance presented it, revealed a troubling pattern: for every American worker Microsoft eliminated, the company replaced that position with approximately one and a half foreign visa holders. "There has been no company in the United States, unfortunately, that has abused this system more than Microsoft," Vance said at a press conference on visa fraud.
The wage disparity underlying these hiring decisions was equally stark. According to Vance's figures, H-1B visa workers in the United States earn roughly $20,000 less annually than American citizens performing identical work. For those brought in by foreign outsourcing firms, the gap widens to $48,000 per year. This wage suppression, Vance argued, creates a financial incentive for companies to displace American workers and replace them with lower-paid foreign labor. He characterized the practice as a "scandalous system" that allows corporations to profit by undercutting American wages.
Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling amplified the government's position, calling the suspension "historic action" against what he termed a "pipeline of systemic fraud." He labeled universities and companies that hire foreign workers as "visa mills," institutions that promote workers with falsified qualifications to fill positions that should go to Americans. Sonderling cited aggregate data showing that the eight suspended companies alone had requested nearly 3 million foreign workers since 2009, received over 230,000 H-1B visa approvals, and obtained more than 100,000 permanent labour certifications. "That's hundreds of thousands of jobs that were taken from American workers," Sonderling said.
Microsoft responded to the suspension with a statement disputing the characterization of its hiring practices. The company said that 80 percent of the 6,000 H-1B visa applications it filed in the last fiscal year were not for new hires but rather to extend or change the status of workers already employed by Microsoft. The company also asserted that it pays H-1B employees the same compensation as American employees in comparable roles and that its wages rank among the highest in the technology sector. Microsoft stated its belief in "the strength and talent of the American workforce," a position that stood in tension with the government's data on its recent layoffs and visa sponsorships.
Vance's message to the suspended companies was direct: the government wants them to succeed in the United States, but not at the expense of American workers. "We want you to continue to grow and to employ a lot of people, but we want you to employ American workers," he said. The suspension of the PERM programme for these eight firms immediately affects H-1B visa workers currently seeking permanent residency, freezing their pathway to green cards through their employers. The action signals a significant shift in how the administration intends to enforce immigration policy in the technology sector, treating the visa system not as a tool for filling genuine skill gaps but as a mechanism for wage suppression and worker displacement.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
We want you to employ American workers. You cannot lay off American workers and then replace them with foreign indentured servants.— Vice President JD Vance, addressing suspended companies
80 percent of the 6,000 H-1B visa applications submitted in the last fiscal year were to extend or change the status of existing employees and not to hire new people.— Microsoft statement
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