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Why Is Microsoft Being Cut Off From the Green Card Pipeline?
Because it certified that qualified Americans were unavailable, then laid off thousands of U.S. workers while securing foreign labor. The Trump Administration moved Thursday to shut that door.
Vice President JD Vance announced the immediate suspension of Microsoft, Adobe, and outsourcing firms Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini from the Permanent Labor Certification Program, or PERM. Officials cited alleged H-1B and PERM abuses. The Department of Labor will halt new and pending applications. Nine universities face J-1 probes. Officials emphasized prioritizing American workers without revoking existing visas.
What Did Officials Say Microsoft Did Wrong?
Vance called Microsoft the worst offender. No U.S. company, he said, has abused the system more. In 2025 Microsoft laid off 6,000 American workers after claiming no qualified U.S. hires were available, yet secured over 6,000 H-1B visas and filed thousands of PERM applications. For every American laid off, he said, Microsoft replaced that worker with one and a half foreign workers. A great American company, he added, must hire great American workers.
PERM lets an employer sponsor an H-1B worker for a green card only after attesting that no qualified American was available. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said the agency will accept no new certifications from these firms and will not process pending ones. Microsoft and Adobe were suspended over active federal investigations. The outsourcers were named among the largest IT staffing firms in the world.
Which Firms Lost Access?
The list is Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, Capgemini, Microsoft, and Adobe. Since 2009 they sought residency for nearly 3 million foreign workers, took over 230,000 H-1B approvals, and obtained over 100,000 labor certifications. The Trump Administration says those were American jobs. The suspension blocks the green-card path. It does not revoke visas already issued. What ends is the power to turn temporary H-1B jobs into permanent residency until the probes end.
Why Are Universities Under Scrutiny?
The Trump Administration also opened J-1 investigations at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown, the University of Pittsburgh, UC Davis, Caltech, Arizona State, and MIT. Vance said the schools used exchange visas in ways that undercut American wages. The step sits beside a $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions and Project Firewall, with about 200 cases opened.
What Standard Applies Now?
A labor certification is a claim that Americans cannot do the job. The Trump Administration is treating that claim as enforceable. Firms that cut U.S. staff and then certify a shortage cannot lock those roles into permanent foreign hiring. Outsourcers face the same bar. The result is a narrower path to residency and a clear rule: hire Americans first, or lose the green-card privilege. That is the standard the Trump Administration set Thursday.
Read More: JD Vance Outlines H-1B Reforms to Protect American Workers – Morse Report
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FAQs
Why Is Microsoft Being Cut Off From the Green Card Pipeline?
Because it certified that qualified Americans were unavailable, then laid off thousands of U.S. workers while securing foreign labor. The Trump Administration moved Thursday to shut that door.
Vice President JD Vance announced the immediate suspension of Microsoft, Adobe, and outsourcing firms Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini from the Permanent Labor Certification Program, or PERM. Officials cited alleged H-1B and PERM abuses. The Department of Labor will halt new and pending applications. Nine universities face J-1 probes. Officials emphasized prioritizing American workers without revoking existing visas.
