US Suspends Microsoft and IT Firms From Green Card Program

Washington state lawmakers are challenging the Trump administration's decision to suspend Microsoft and several major information technology companies from a federal employment-based immigration program, warning that the restrictions could disrupt legal residency pathways for skilled foreign workers and their families. Vice President JD Vance announced the measure Thursday, October 8, 2026, as the administration argued that some employers had abused the system at the expense of American workers.

The restrictions target the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) program, a key step through which US employers sponsor eligible foreign employees for employment-based green cards. The affected companies include Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies, and Capgemini, according to the October 9 report by Al Jazeera.

Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said the government would stop accepting new applications and processing pending permanent labor certification applications involving the named companies. The administration has not provided a specific end date for the suspensions, while companies including Meta, Amazon, and Google are not included in the announced restrictions.

Vance accused major technology companies of using immigration programs to replace American employees with lower-paid foreign workers. He singled out Microsoft, alleging that the company had laid off 6,000 US workers in the previous year while obtaining 6,300 H-1B visas and nearly 3,000 green cards.

At a White House news conference, Vance said, "The programme has become rife with fraud,"

He also alleged that workers who move from temporary H-1B status toward permanent residency face mistreatment and pressure on their wages.

Vance described those workers as "being mistreated by their employers"

He further accused employers of using foreign recruitment to weaken compensation for US employees.

Vance said those workers were "used to undercut the wages of American workers"

Arguing that US companies should prioritize domestic employees, Vance said, "You’ve got to hire great American workers,"

He added, "You cannot lay off American workers and then replace them with foreign indentured servants."

Sonderling defended the suspension as an effort to address what the administration described as widespread misuse of immigration rules.

Sonderling said the government would "shut down the pipeline of systemic fraud that has flooded our country".

He argued that scrutiny should extend beyond initial hiring to the longer-term immigration process.

Sonderling said, "The fraud doesn’t end with getting the job,"

He continued, "That job becomes a pathway for foreign workers and their families to stay in America permanently and eventually (become) US citizens."

Sonderling also questioned who ultimately bears the cost of the alleged abuses.

He said, "And who pays for it all? The American worker,"

Explaining the immediate scope of the restrictions, Sonderling said, "We will not accept any new or process any pending permanent labour certification applications involving these companies,"

Vance said the restrictions would remain in place "as long as it needs to".

Sonderling said the companies covered by the action had received more than 230,000 H-1B visas and over 100,000 permanent labor certifications since 2009. He characterized the figures as evidence of jobs being diverted from American workers.

He said, "That’s hundreds of thousands of jobs that were taken from American workers,"

Microsoft disputed the administration's characterization of its visa activity. The company said 80 percent of roughly 6,000 H-1B visa applications it issued last year involved existing employees rather than new hires.

Microsoft said those applications were intended "to extend or change the status of existing Microsoft employees"

The company said the remaining applications concerned people already lawfully present in the United States.

Microsoft described those applicants as "individuals already legally in the United States"

The company also defended its hiring standards and compensation practices.

Microsoft said employees sponsored through the program "meet the rigorous standards of this visa category"

Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat and the top Democrat on the House Immigration Subcommittee, criticized the restrictions as another effort to limit lawful immigration. Jayapal said she was the only member of Congress to have personally held an H-1B visa and represented tens of thousands of Microsoft workers.

Jayapal argued that PERM provides a defined process for employers to demonstrate that hiring foreign workers will not harm US employees. She said the restrictions could undermine legal immigration and weaken the country's ability to innovate.

Representative Suzan DelBene, another Washington Democrat, also condemned the decision, arguing that it would create uncertainty for skilled workers already living in the United States. Her statement challenged the administration's claim that suspending the program would address alleged visa abuse.

DelBene said, "The Trump administration’s action today is an attack on current H-1B visa holders already in the United States. Haphazardly taking away the pathway to a lawful green card for skilled workers at certain American companies is a biased and punitive misuse of the law. Let’s be clear: this move will have no impact on purported H-1B visa abuse.

It simply undercuts a legal way for people to work, stay with their family, and become a part of our communities. This will inject even more uncertainty into our already turbulent economy while hamstringing innovation, competitiveness, and ultimately American workers."

The restrictions could particularly affect Indian technology professionals, who account for approximately 70 percent of existing H-1B visa holders, according to Al Jazeera. The report said 62 percent of H-1B beneficiaries in fiscal year 2025 worked in computer-related occupations, while the annual allocation for new H-1B visas is 85,000, excluding renewals.