Vance accuses Microsoft of fraud as Trump administration clamps down on H-1B visa abuse

Vice President JD Vance announced Thursday that the Trump administration is stopping Microsoft’s option to move employees on temporary H-1B foreign worker visas onto a green card, or more permanent residency status, through the Program Electronic Review Management labor certification.

“The H-1B visa program is meant to allow companies to bring in really the best of the best from outside the United States of America for positions that are completely impossible to fill with American workers,” Vance told reporters. “Unfortunately, the program has become rife with fraud over the last several years, probably the last several decades.”

Vance explained that Thursday’s action would cover the likes of Adobe, among others, but that “there has been no company in the United States, unfortunately, that has abused this system more than Microsoft.”

“Microsoft laid off 6,000 American workers in 2025 after certifying that it could not find qualified American employees — yet the company was approved for more than 6,000 H-1Bs and filed 3,682 PERM applications, including nearly 1,000 applications for the same positions as the laid off American workers,” he said. “For every worker that Microsoft laid off they replaced that worker with 1.5 foreign indentured servants.”

The other companies affected by Vance’s announcement on Thursday, which is temporary depending on whether the companies can demonstrate their commitment to American workers, include some of the largest IT outsourcing firms in the world, from Cognizant to Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini.

In addition to Vance’s announcement regarding Microsoft and Adobe, he, along with White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, Attorney General Todd Blanche, Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito, and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson, announced that the administration was simultaneously starting investigations into nine universities over allegations of J-1 visa fraud.

“Some of America’s most elite universities bring in foreigners to undercut the wages of American residents,” he said. “Those are Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown, the University of Pittsburgh, UC Davis, Cal Tech, Arizona State, and MIT.”

When asked about the split-screen of criticizing Microsoft hours before President Donald Trump is scheduled to present Indian-born Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the country’s highest honor for technological achievement in the United States, Vance contended there is “no disconnect.”

“Microsoft is a great American company, and we have a great relationship with them,” he said. “They do a lot of important things. They also laid off 6,000 American workers while replacing them with 6,300 H-1Bs. And our message to Microsoft is not that we want to harm your company; it’s that we want your company to thrive, but we want it to thrive by employing and empowering your fellow Americans. So, we’re going to continue to support Microsoft and have a great relationship with Microsoft, but we’re also going to deny them the ability to apply for these permanent residencies until they show that they are going to get serious about putting American workers first.”

VANCE ACCUSES MICROSOFT OF FRAUD AS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CLAMPS DOWN ON H-1B VISA ABUSE

During Thursday’s press conference, Vance, too, was asked about reports that U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle had asked for $100,000 from a Republican donor to help pay off her American Express credit card in exchange for assistance with the Trump administration shortly before her confirmation.

“I don’t love that, but I, you know, I don’t know exactly we were talking about,” he said. “Of course, I don’t like anybody selling access to another government official, certainly a high-level government official. … I’d like to get the full story before offering a real opinion.”