The Trump administration is suspending Microsoft from a green card
program, alleging fraud
[October 09, 2026] By
SEUNG MIN KIM, REBECCA SANTANA and BARBARA ORTUTAY
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's administration announced
Thursday it was suspending Microsoft and several other firms from a
program allowing foreign workers to apply for green cards, as it also
lashed out at universities that bring international students to the U.S.
on exchange programs.
The announcement by Vice President JD Vance marks the latest swing from
the Trump administration at employers and universities that welcome
foreign students and workers into the country.
Such programs have frequently been targeted by some Trump supporters who
argue they undercut American students and workers. Supporters say they
allow the U.S. to attract the best talent from around the world and fill
important hiring gaps.
Supporters of the Republican president have long argued that various
programs like H-1B visas — which Vance accused Microsoft of abusing —
essentially empower American companies to recruit foreign workers for
jobs that end up undercutting Americans. In the wide-ranging
announcement, Vance and other top administration officials also called
out universities over their use of J-1 visas for international students
and information technology outsourcing firms.
The announcement came hours before Trump awarded the National Medal of
Technology and Innovation to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, part of an
event at which he granted some of the nation’s most prestigious science
and technology awards to his tech billionaire allies.
Vance says US workers are replaced with ‘foreign indentured servants’
Vance said the program from which Microsoft is being suspended requires
companies to advertise jobs in America before applying to the Department
of Labor to show they need to give a foreign worker a green card because
of a lack of American workers.
“They’ll put an advertisement in a small-town newspaper. 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,” Vance said. “There has been no company in the
United States, unfortunately, that has used this system more than
Microsoft.”
Microsoft is No. 5 among U.S. employers when it comes to using H-1B
visas, according data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Amazon is No. 1.
Vance said Microsoft last year laid off 6,000 American workers but also
obtained 6,300 H-1B visas and almost 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,”
Vance said in a White House news conference announcing the decision.
“Our message to Microsoft is: You’re a great American company, but
you’ve got to hire great American workers.”
Vance said H-1B workers are effectively foreign indentured servants
because if they lose their jobs, they have to leave the country, and
they earn less than Americans in the same position.
Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Washington, said of the
approximately 6,000 H-1B visa applications it submitted in the last
fiscal year, 80% were “to extend or change the status of existing
Microsoft employees.”
“These were not to hire new people,” Microsoft said in a statement. “The
remaining filings for new employees were for individuals already legally
in the United States who decided to come work for us, and they equal
only 1% of our U.S. workforce. They are not new arrivals to our
country.”
The company added that it only files H-1B petitions for “those who meet
the rigorous standards of this visa category.”
Doug Rand, a former senior adviser at USCIS during the Biden
administration, called Vance's announcement “incoherent.”
“If the Trump administration were truly concerned that H-1B workers are
‘indentured servants,’ then the last thing they would do is block
companies from helping their own H-1B workers get green cards,” he said.
“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.”
H-1B program has been scrutinized
The H-1B program has long been a target of Trump supporters who say that
the program undercuts American workers and is rife with abuse.
[to top of second column] |
Vice President JD Vance speaks during a news conference on the Fraud
Task Force inside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the
White House campus, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Washington. (AP
Photo/Tom Brenner)
H-1B visas are meant for high-skilled jobs that are difficult to find
American workers to fill. Technology companies are the biggest users,
with nearly three-quarters of approvals going to workers from India.
Trump last year attempted to ratchet up the fee for H-1B work visas to
$100,000, saying it would protect American workers from losing their
jobs to lower-paid foreigners, but a federal judge struck that down in
June.
The administration has since tried a different tack, announcing plans in
August for a $103,265 fee. The proposed regulation described the new fee
as a “dedicated revenue mechanism to help recover a portion of the
federal government’s costs of administering the lawful immigration
system.” The rule isn’t yet final and is expected to face a legal
challenge, like the one before it.
Ron Hira, a Howard University political science professor and longtime
critic of the H-1B program, called the move against Microsoft “very
significant.’’ Hira noted 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.’’
“There are supposed to be protections for U.S. workers that say: If you
hire an H-1B, you are promising that you are not adversely affecting
similarly employed U.S. workers,’’ Hira said. “That’s never been
enforced.’’
Besides Microsoft, Vance said the government was similarly suspending
Adobe and tech consulting firms Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL and
Capgemini. The companies did not immediately respond to messages seeking
comment.
Trump also has targeted international students
The Vance announcement came a day after Trump's administration launched
another broadside against international students and their ability to
work in the U.S.
The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday proposed a $70,000 fee
for international students seeking to work in the United States. The
proposed rule would require schools to pay the fee for every student who
participates in the Optional Practical Training program, which allows
students to work in jobs related to their major during or after their
time in school.
Vance also called out universities, suggesting that they were abusing a
program to allow international students to come to the U.S. These
temporary visas, called J-1 visas, allow international visitors to
temporarily come to the U.S. for work and study exchange programs.
Vance singled out nine universities that he said merited further
investigation for J-1 visa fraud, saying they used the program in
greater proportions than their counterparts.
The universities were Harvard; Yale; Stanford; Brown; the University of
Pittsburgh; the University of California, Davis; the California
Institute of Technology; Arizona State; and the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. Stanford said it would cooperate with the investigation,
and UC Davis said it would work with the federal government to “confirm
compliance.”
MIT, Brown and Pitt said they had received and were reviewing subpoenas
from the government related to programs for foreign workers. Yale said
it would review investigation documents once it had received them.
“Of note, each J-1 visa holder at MIT has been vetted and authorized to
come here by the U.S. government, and we take seriously our obligations
to follow U.S. law,” MIT spokesperson Kimberly Allen said in a written
statement.
___
Associated Press writers Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas,
Kelvin Chan in London and Paul Wiseman, Annie Ma and Collin Binkley in
Washington contributed. Ortutay reported from Oakland, Calif.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
