US freezes green card applications from Microsoft, major IT firms over alleged fraud

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration froze on Thursday some green-card filings by Microsoft, Adobe and major IT outsourcers and opened probes into nine top universities, widening a visa crackdown it says targets fraud and protects American jobs. The twin actions mark the broadest strike yet against skilled-worker immigration programs — potentially cutting off a common path to permanent residency for foreign tech workers — while putting some of the country's top research universities on notice. "There has been no company in the United States, unfortunately, that has abused the system more than Microsoft," Vice President JD Vance said. He said the company laid off 6,000 American workers last year while benefiting from 6,300 H-1B temporary worker visas and nearly 3,000 green cards. The announcement about the permanent labor certification process — PERM — came hours before Trump was due to give Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. Under PERM, required for most employment-based green cards, employers must show that hiring a foreign worker wi