By Steve Holland and Akash Sriram
WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (Reuters) – The Trump administration froze on Thursday some green-card filings by Microsoft, Adobe and major IT outsourcers and opened probes into nine elite universities, widening a visa crackdown it says targets fraud and American job losses.
The twin actions mark the broadest strike yet against skilled-worker immigration programs, potentially blocking a common path to permanent residency for thousands of foreign tech workers while putting some of the country’s most prominent research universities on notice. The moves come even as the administration cultivates closer ties with the same tech leaders whose companies are now in its crosshairs.
“Our message to Microsoft is: You’re a great American company, but you’ve got to hire great American workers,” Vice President JD Vance said.
Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said the suspension would also cover Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini.
“We will not accept any new or process any pending permanent labor certification applications involving these companies,” Sonderling said.
Vance also said nine universities, including Harvard, Yale and Stanford, would be investigated for what the administration called the misuse of exchange-visitor visas to undercut American wages.
Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Wipro and Capgemini did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Tata Consultancy Services declined to comment.
Under the Labor Department’s permanent labor certification process, known as PERM, which is required for most employment-based green cards, employers must show that hiring a foreign worker will not harm the wages, working conditions or job opportunities of US workers. Approved applications then go to US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The freeze does not appear to directly affect current holders of H-1B visas, which allow companies to employ foreign workers temporarily. But it could block a common route by which employers sponsor those workers for permanent residency.
Indian IT firms such as Infosys, TCS, Wipro and HCL, along with Cognizant, have long been among the biggest users of H-1B visas.
Amazon.com was the largest employer of approved H-1B beneficiaries in fiscal 2026, followed by Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Apple and Microsoft, according to USCIS data.
Microsoft is also the largest filer of PERM applications, according to Permtrack.app, which compiles Labor Department disclosure data.
CRACKDOWN WIDENS
The suspensions are the latest in a series of steps against skilled-worker programs. In September last year, the Labor Department launched an enforcement drive called “Project Firewall,” as a White House proclamation imposed a one-time $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions for workers hired from abroad.
During President Donald Trump’s second term, companies have faced growing pressure to keep jobs and production in the United States rather than move them overseas.
The action comes despite closer ties between the administration and tech leaders, who are lobbying for lighter AI regulation. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was among the executives at a White House AI summit on September 29.
UNIVERSITIES UNDER SCRUTINY
The nine universities also include Brown and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Vance accused them of using J-1 exchange-visitor visas to bring in international students and undercut American wages. Labor Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito said subpoenas had already been served.
“We will investigate whether foreign influence, improper financial relationships, or visa abuse are compromising federally funded research,” D’Esposito said. “If an American university is breaking the law to save $1 while exposing American research to a foreign adversary, that is not academic excellence. It’s institutional betrayal.”
The probe adds to the administration’s long-running fight with Harvard over foreign students. Last year, the Department of Homeland Security subpoenaed Harvard for documents on alleged misconduct by international students and its compliance with federal immigration law. Harvard called that subpoena “unfounded retribution” but said it would comply as far as the law requires.
(Reporting by Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff, Doina Chiacu in Washington and Prathik Jayaprakash in Bengaluru; Editing by Mark Porter and Sanjeev Miglani)
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