Trump freezes green cards for IT firms, probes universities
Move follows $100,000 fee on fresh H-1B petitions under White House proclamation as Labour Department will halt new and pending applications involving the named companies
Published: 04:10 PM,Oct 09,2026 | EDITED : 08:10 PM,Oct 09,2026
The US suspended Microsoft, major IT outsourcers and software maker Adobe from a key green-card programme on Thursday while opening probes into nine top universities, widening a crackdown it says targets fraud and protects American jobs.
Since taking office, US President Donald Trump has pursued a broad effort to reduce the number of foreign-born people in the US and curtail their pathway to residence and citizenship. Thursday's twin actions mark the broadest strike yet against skilled-worker immigration programs — potentially cutting off a common path to permanent residency for foreign tech workers — while putting some of the country's top research universities on notice.
'There has been no company in the United States, unfortunately, that has abused the system more than Microsoft', Vice President JD Vance said. He said the company laid off 6,000 American workers last year while benefiting from 6,300 H-1B temporary worker visas and nearly 3,000 green cards.
His comments came hours before Trump honoured tech billionaires for their contributions to America, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Nadella once held an H-1B visa, as did Elon Musk, who was also honoured, while three of the other CEOs honoured are immigrants.
Nadella thanked Trump for the medal, saying in a post on X he would continue to advance technology and drive American prosperity.
Microsoft is the largest filer of PERM applications, or the permanent labour certification process, according to data from the US labour department. Under PERM, which most employment-based green cards require, employers must show a foreign hire will not hurt US workers' wages or jobs.
The company said in a statement that about 80 per cent of the H-1B applications it filed in the last fiscal year were to extend or change the status of current employees, not to hire new workers. In July, the company said it would cut 4,800 jobs, or about 2.1 per cent of its global workforce.
Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling said the suspension would also cover Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini. 'We will not accept any new or process any pending permanent labour certification applications involving these companies', Sonderling said.
He said these companies had since 2009 sought almost three million foreign workers, and had received over 230,000 H-1B visa approvals and over 100,000 permanent labour certifications.
Amazon.com was the largest employer of approved H-1B beneficiaries in fiscal 2026, followed by Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Apple and Microsoft, according to US immigration data.
Vance said the suspensions would last 'as long as it needs to' and that the administration wanted the companies to change how they hire. He said some companies post ineffective job ads, then point to the lack of applicants to justify hiring lower-paid foreign workers.
Microsoft said in its statement that it pays its H-1B employees the same as any other employees doing comparable work.
Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Wipro and Capgemini did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Tata Consultancy Services declined to comment.
Nasscom, India's IT industry body, said Indian tech companies in the US had significantly reduced their reliance on H-1B visas, and relatively few of their workers sought green cards through the PERM process.
In September last year, the Labour Department launched an enforcement drive called 'Project Firewall' as a White House proclamation imposed a one-time $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions for workers hired from abroad. — AFP