Vance accuses Microsoft of abusing visa system, suspends green card program

Key Points:

• Vice President JD Vance and the Labor Department announced the suspension of Microsoft, Adobe, and several major IT outsourcing firms from the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) program, accusing them of abusing visa systems to replace American workers with foreign labor.
• Vance criticized Microsoft for laying off 6,000 American workers last year while benefiting from thousands of H-1B visas and green cards, calling the practice a "scandalous system" and accusing the company of replacing American employees with foreign "indentured servants."
• The Labor Department also launched investigations into alleged J-1 visa fraud at nine major universities, including Harvard, Yale, and Stanford, emphasizing that misuse of visa classifications to exploit programs and undermine U.S. workers will not be tolerated.
• Vance urged Congress to reform the H-1B visa program to close loopholes and stop abuse, while signaling the administration’s intent to use available tools to enforce compliance and protect American workers in the interim.
• Attorney General Todd Blanche indicated that criminal cases could be pursued against companies or individuals found violating U.S. law, although Vance emphasized the goal is to change corporate behavior rather than punish companies like Microsoft.