On Thursday, the Trump administration blocked a number of technology companies, including Microsoft and Adobe, from applying for green cards for H-1B visa holders, saying it would no longer take away job opportunities from American workers.
In a statement led by Vice President J.D. Vance, officials said companies seen as exploiting the foreign worker green card pathway as a way to hire cheap labor and undercut American workers will suspend their PERM programs.
Vance pointed to Microsoft as a key example of alleged abuse of the system, with the tech giant laying off thousands of employees over the past year while still applying for H-1B visas and subsequent green cards.
“Right now, our message to Microsoft and any other foreign or domestic company is very simple: We obviously want you to thrive in the United States of America,” Vance said.
“We want people to invest in America, especially in American technology. We are the biggest promoters of your industry. We want you to continue to grow and hire a lot of people, but we want you to hire American workers,” Vance said. “So our message to Microsoft is, you’re a great American company, but you have to hire great American workers.”
newsweek We reached out to Microsoft via email Thursday morning for comment.
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