Trump admin suspends green cards to Microsoft as Vance accuses the company of replacing laid-off workers with ‘foreign indentured servants’

President Donald Trump’s administration announced Thursday it was suspending Microsoft and several other firms from a program allowing foreign workers to apply for green cards as it also lashed out at universities that bring international students to the U.S. on exchange programs.

Trump admin suspends green cards to Microsoft as Vance accuses the company of replacing laid-off workers with ‘foreign indentured servants’

TL;DR

  • The Trump administration has suspended Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini from a program allowing foreign workers to apply for green cards.
  • Vice President JD Vance accused Microsoft of using H-1B visas to replace laid-off American workers with 'foreign indentured servants.'
  • Vance claimed Microsoft laid off 6,000 American workers while securing over 9,000 H-1B visas and green cards.
  • Microsoft stated that 80% of its H-1B applications were to extend or change the status of existing employees, not to hire new people.
  • The administration also targeted universities over their use of J-1 visas for international students, with nine universities singled out for investigation.
  • A proposed fee of $70,000 for international students seeking to work in the U.S. via the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program was also announced.