U.S. bars Microsoft, Adobe and others from visa program

The Trump administration accused Microsoft Corp. , Adobe Inc. and a half-dozen other companies of abusing a U.S. worker visa program and suspended them indefinitely from a longstanding immigration initiative that’s served as a crucial talent pipeline for Silicon Valley and Wall Street.

The suspensions, announced Thursday by Vice President JD Vance and Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, also targeted information technology services giants Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., Infosys Ltd., Tata, Wipro Ltd., HCL Technologies Ltd. and Capgemini SE. Those firms, either based in India or with large operations there, are often called outsourcers for their role offering contract IT work to other businesses.

At a briefing in Washington, Sonderling said there were multiple federal investigations under way into the use of a system that allows U.S. employers to sponsor foreign workers for permanent residency.

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“We are cutting off the head of the snake — the companies that enabled this abuse for decades,” Sonderling told reporters at Thursday’s briefing.

Vance singlled out Microsoft, the world’s third most-valuable company, for what he characterized as exploitation of the program. “There has been no company in the United States, unfortunately, that has abused this system more than Microsoft,” he said.

In a statement, Microsoft defended its use of visa programs and said that it looked forward to providing the administration with additional information. Adobe and the Indian companies named by Vance and Sonderling didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Shares of Microsoft fell more than 1.3 per cent in New York trading Thursday, while Cognizant reversed earlier losses and was up more than five per cent. Shares in Indian IT services firms including Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. and Infosys rose Friday.

Vance’s comments assailing Microsoft came hours before U.S. President Donald Trump honoured the company’s chief executive officer, Satya Nadella, with a National Medal of Technology and Innovation at a summit in Washington intended to spotlight U.S. scientific leadership. Just last week, Nadella joined other tech industry leaders at a White House luncheon to discuss safeguards for artificial intelligence.