Trump admin bars Microsoft and other tech companies from seeking permanent residency for foreign workers

The Trump administration has barred Microsoft, Adobe and several IT outsourcing firms from the Labor Department's PERM program, which lets employers sponsor foreign workers for permanent residency. Vice President JD Vance announced the indefinite suspension Thursday, saying an anti-fraud task force he chairs found that Microsoft abused the system. Any new or pending residency requests from the affected companies will go unconsidered, according to CNN · Daily Wire.

According to the investigation, Microsoft cut roughly 6,000 American jobs last year while keeping 6,300 non-citizens it had brought in on H-1B visas. Vance and other officials contend the company misstated its needs, since the program is intended for highly specialized skills, and instead swapped in cheaper immigrant labor for qualified Americans. Microsoft rejected this, saying 80% of its roughly 6,000 H-1B filings last fiscal year extended or changed the status of current staff, and that it pays H-1B workers the same as comparable colleagues. Vance gave no concrete path for restoring access, only urging better behavior.

The announcement came the same day President Donald Trump was scheduled to honor Microsoft chief Satya Nadella with a national technology medal. Officials also opened separate probes into nine universities, including Harvard and Yale, over J-1 visa use.

Summarized by PolitiKool from CNN · Daily Wire’s reporting. Read the full story at CNN · Daily Wire →