JD Vance suspends Microsoft and others from skilled-worker visa program

President Donald Trump’s administration is suspending tech giant Microsoft from a program that helps skilled foreign workers apply for US green cards to live and work after entering the US using an H-1B visa as it accuses the company of fraud, concurrently impacting staff targeting permanent status.

President JD Vanve in a White House press briefing regarding the resolution, stating, “ If you do the math, for every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants.”

The H-1B program has been singled out by Trump advocates who say that the program exploits American workers and is rife with abuse. H-1B visas are for high-skilled labor shortages that are difficult to find American workers to fill; while technology companies are the primary beneficiaries with nearly three-quarters of approvals granted to workers from India.

Vance's recent announcement came one day after Trump’s Republican administration launched another attack against international students and their ability to work in the US. The Department of Homeland Security proposed a significant $70,000 fee for non-resident student applications seeking to work in the United States.

Vance has also criticized universities that he suggested were abusing a program to allow international students to come to the US. The temporary visas are primarily called J-1 visas, allowing international visitors to come to the US for work and study exchange programs.

Further, Vance identified nine universities that he said merited further investigation for J-1 fraud, adding they used the program in a higher percentage than their counterparts.