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WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump\u2019s administration announced Thursday it was suspending Microsoft and several other firms from a program allowing foreign workers to apply for green cards as it also lashed out at universities that bring international students to the US on exchange programs.<\/p>\n
The announcement by Vice President JD Vance marks the latest swing from the Trump administration at employers and universities that welcome foreign students and workers into the country.<\/p>\n
Such programs have frequently been targeted by some Trump supporters who argue they undercut American students and workers. Supporters say they allow the US to attract the best talent from around the world and fill important hiring gaps.<\/p>\n
Supporters of the Republican president have long argued that various programs like H-1B visas \u2014 which Vance accused Microsoft of abusing \u2014 essentially empower American companies to recruit foreign workers for jobs that end up undercutting Americans. In the wide-ranging announcement, Vance and other top administration officials also called out universities over their use of J-1 visas for international students and information technology outsourcing firms.<\/p>\n
The announcement came hours before Trump awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, part of an event at which he granted some of the nation\u2019s most prestigious science and technology awards to his tech billionaire allies.<\/p>\n
Vance says US workers are replaced with \u2018foreign indentured servants\u2019<\/p>\n
Vance said the program from which Microsoft is being suspended requires companies to advertise jobs in America before applying to the Department of Labor to show they need to give a foreign worker a green card because of a lack of American workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll put an advertisement in a small-town newspaper. They\u2019ll go out there and say that \u2018We have advertised for a position with our company, and nobody is responding to it.\u2019 And they will use that lack of response to then go and replace American workers with what is effectively foreign indentured servants,\u201d Vance said. \u201cThere has been no company in the United States, unfortunately, that has used this system more than Microsoft.\u201d<\/p>\n
Microsoft is No. 5 among US employers when it comes to using H-1B visas, according data from US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Amazon is No. 1.<\/p>\n
Vance said Microsoft last year laid off 6,000 American workers but also obtained 6,300 H-1B visas and almost 3,000 green cards.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you do the math, for every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants,\u201d Vance said in a White House news conference announcing the decision. \u201cOur message to Microsoft is: You\u2019re a great American company, but you\u2019ve got to hire great American workers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vance said H-1B workers are effectively foreign indentured servants because if they lose their jobs, they have to leave the country, and they earn less than Americans in the same position.<\/p>\n
Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Washington, said of the approximately 6,000 H-1B visa applications it submitted in the last fiscal year, 80 percent were \u201cto extend or change the status of existing Microsoft employees.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThese were not to hire new people,\u201d Microsoft said in a statement. \u201cThe remaining filings for new employees were for individuals already legally in the United States who decided to come work for us, and they equal only 1 percent of our US workforce. They are not new arrivals to our country.\u201d<\/p>\n
The company added that it only files H-1B petitions for \u201cthose who meet the rigorous standards of this visa category.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doug Rand, a former senior adviser at USCIS during the Biden administration, called Vance\u2019s announcement \u201cincoherent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the Trump administration were truly concerned that H-1B workers are \u2018indentured servants,\u2019 then the last thing they would do is block companies from helping their own H-1B workers get green cards,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce you have a green card, you\u2019re no longer dependent on your employer for your immigration status \u2014 you\u2019re a permanent resident who can change jobs and negotiate higher wages without fear.\u201d<\/p>\n
H-1B program has been scrutinized<\/p>\n
The H-1B program has long been a target of Trump supporters who say that the program undercuts American workers and is rife with abuse.<\/p>\n
H-1B visas are meant for high-skilled jobs that are difficult to find American workers to fill. Technology companies are the biggest users, with nearly three-quarters of approvals going to workers from India.<\/p>\n
Trump last year attempted to ratchet up the fee for H-1B work visas to $100,000, saying it would protect American workers from losing their jobs to lower-paid foreigners, but a federal judge struck that down in June.<\/p>\n
The administration has since tried a different tack, announcing plans in August for a $103,265 fee. The proposed regulation described the new fee as a \u201cdedicated revenue mechanism to help recover a portion of the federal government\u2019s costs of administering the lawful immigration system.\u201d The rule isn\u2019t yet final and is expected to face a legal challenge, like the one before it.<\/p>\n
Ron Hira, a Howard University political science professor and longtime critic of the H-1B program, called the move against Microsoft \u201cvery significant.\u2019\u2019 Hira noted the White House last month issued a little-noticed executive order directing government agencies to \u201cimplement appropriate measures to protect American workers from abuse of the H-1B program and ensure that the program serves the national interest.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are supposed to be protections for US workers that say: If you hire an H-1B, you are promising that you are not adversely affecting similarly employed US workers,\u2019\u2019 Hira said. \u201cThat\u2019s never been enforced.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Besides Microsoft, Vance said the government was similarly suspending Adobe and tech consulting firms Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini. The companies did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.<\/p>\n
Trump also has targeted international students<\/p>\n
The Vance announcement came a day after Trump\u2019s administration launched another broadside against international students and their ability to work in the US<\/p>\n
The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday proposed a $70,000 fee for international students seeking to work in the United States. The proposed rule would require schools to pay the fee for every student who participates in the Optional Practical Training program, which allows students to work in jobs related to their major during or after their time in school.<\/p>\n
Vance also called out universities, suggesting that they were abusing a program to allow international students to come to the US These temporary visas, called J-1 visas, allow international visitors to temporarily come to the US for work and study exchange programs.<\/p>\n
Vance singled out nine universities that he said merited further investigation for J-1 visa fraud, saying they used the program in greater proportions than their counterparts.<\/p>\n
The universities were Harvard; Yale; Stanford; Brown; the University of Pittsburgh; the University of California, Davis; the California Institute of Technology; Arizona State; and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Stanford said it would cooperate with the investigation.<\/p>\n
MIT and Brown said they had received and were reviewing subpoenas from the government related to programs for foreign workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf note, each J-1 visa holder at MIT has been vetted and authorized to come here by the US government, and we take seriously our obligations to follow US law,\u201d MIT spokesperson Kimberly Allen said in a written statement. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n