Trump Administration Brings The Hammer Down On Microsoft After Vance Said The Company Laid Off “6,000 American Workers” While Getting 6,300 H-1B Visas For Foreign Workers

The Associated Press reported the announcement. Vice President JD Vance announced on Thursday, October 8, 2026 that the administration is freezing Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT | MSFT Price Prediction) and several other firms from a Labor Department program used to sponsor foreign workers for permanent residency. He spoke at a news conference of the administration’s Fraud Task Force at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and Attorney General Todd Blanche also attended.

AP News reported that besides Microsoft, Vance named Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) and six tech consulting firms: Cognizant (NASDAQ:CTSH), Infosys (NYSE:INFY), Tata, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini.

How the Green Card Program Works and What Vance Alleges

Before a company can apply to the Labor Department to sponsor a foreign worker for a green card, the program requires it to advertise the job in the United States. The point is to show that no American workers are available. This is the first step toward an employer-sponsored green card. It is separate from H-1B visas, which are temporary, and the suspension applies only to the green card sponsorship program.

JD Vance described how he says the advertising step is abused: “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.”

The fraud claim rests on that mechanism. Vance focused his objection on the hiring process. His claim is that the search for American applicants was run in bad faith, and he explained his phrase by saying these workers must leave the country if they lose their jobs, and they earn less than Americans in the same position.

Vance’s Numbers Compared With Government Data

AP News reported that Vance said Microsoft laid off 6,000 American workers in the year he cited, while obtaining 6,300 H-1B visas and almost 3,000 green cards. JD Vance addressed the layoffs. He said that for every worker laid off, Microsoft brought in “one and a half foreign indentured servants.” He added that “there has been no company in the United States, unfortunately, that has used this system more than Microsoft.”

AP News checked that claim. Citing US Citizenship and Immigration Services data, AP News reported that Microsoft ranks No. 5 among US employers in H-1B usage and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) ranks No. 1. That ranking measures H-1B usage, while Vance was talking about the green card sponsorship program, and the two do not line up exactly, so the ranking tests his claim without ruling it out.

Microsoft’s Response

Microsoft said that 80% of the approximately 6,000 H-1B applications it filed in its most recent fiscal year were to extend or change the status of existing employees. Microsoft said the rest went to people already legally in the United States, equal to 1% of its US workforce. “They are not new arrivals to our country,” the company said. Microsoft added that it “only files H-1B petitions for those who meet the rigorous standards of this visa category.”

The two sides are counting different things. A visa renewal for an engineer who has worked at Microsoft for years shows up in the same statistic as a new hire from abroad.

Criticism From Both Sides

Doug Rand, a former senior adviser at US Citizenship and Immigration Services, called the announcement “incoherent.” His reasoning: “Once you have a green card, you’re no longer dependent on your employer for your immigration status.”

Ron Hira, a Howard University professor, called the move “very significant.” He pointed to an executive order issued in September 2026 that tells agencies to protect American workers from abuse of the program. On worker protections, he said: “That’s never been enforced.”

Universities and Visa Fees Are Also Targets

AP News reported that Vance named nine universities he said deserved investigation for J-1 visa fraud: Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown, the University of Pittsburgh, UC Davis, Caltech, Arizona State and MIT. Several have received subpoenas. Others said they would comply or review documents.

On October 7, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security proposed a $70,000 fee for international students seeking to work in the US, AP News reported. AP News reported that an earlier attempt to raise the H-1B fee to $100,000 was struck down by a federal judge in June. Per AP News, a proposed $103,265 replacement fee is not yet final and is expected to face a legal challenge.

Same-Day White House Medal for Microsoft’s CEO

AP News reported that hours after the announcement, President Donald Trump awarded Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella the National Medal of Technology and Innovation at a White House event honoring several technology executives.

What Is Still Unknown?

None of the coverage we reviewed identified the legal authority behind the suspension or said how long it will last. AP reported that the other companies did not immediately answering to its messages. It is also unclear whether any company will challenge the suspension in court.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.