Trump Admin Freezes Green Cards at Major Tech Firms, Probes Student Exchange Visas

Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Attorney General Todd Blanche, Vice President J.D.

Vance, Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, Labor Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito, and Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson during an announcement at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Oct.

8, 2026. —Aaron Schwartz—Bloomberg/Getty Images The Trump Administration has suspended several major tech companies, including Microsoft and Adobe, as well as IT outsourcing firms from a green card program as it expands its crackdown on visa fraud .

Vice President J.D.

Vance said Thursday that the companies had “abused” H-1B visa and green card processes in order to “replace American workers with what is effectively foreign indentured servants.” At the same White House press conference , Trump officials announced probes into nine universities, including Harvard, Yale, and Stanford, that the Administration accused of misusing a program meant for temporary educational and cultural exchanges.

Read More: How a New Trump Administration Rule Could Restrict Access to Green Cards—and Confront Immigrants With a Tough Choice The twin moves mark an escalation in the Trump Administration’s scrutiny of skilled worker immigration programs.

The Trump Administration has pursued a broad crackdown on immigration fraud, citing the need to protect American workers and accusing major technology companies and universities of using foreign workers to undercut U.S. wages.

Here’s what to know about the announcements.

How will the suspension impact companies? Microsoft and software maker Adobe are among eight the companies that the Trump Administration will suspend from applying to sponsor employment-based green cards.

The other companies are major information technology outsourcing firms: 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,” Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said.

Sonderling cited ongoing federal investigations, suggesting that the firms were among the biggest beneficiaries of the H-1B program.

The companies had sought to hire almost 3 million foreign workers, received more than 230,000 H-1B visa approvals, and obtained over 100,000 permanent labor certifications since 2009, he said.

In fiscal year 2026, Amazon was the biggest employer of approved H-1B beneficiaries, followed by Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Apple, and Microsoft, according to immigration data.