'Could cripple US tech for over a generation': Microsoft president on Green Card restrictions

Microsoft President Brad Smith has issued a stark warning that the US administration’s crackdown on green cards for skilled foreign workers could severely undermine the American technology industry for more than a generation, setting the stage for a high-stakes clash over immigration and global engineering talent.

Smith rejected allegations of H-1B visa abuse, describing the administration's claims as "completely off base" and warning that such restrictive policies risk driving top artificial intelligence and software engineering talent toward competitor nations, according to a Politico report.

Addressing the accusations of wage suppression and local hiring displacement, Smith said that Microsoft operates a uniform compensation framework across all personnel irrespective of their immigration background.

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He also highlighted the company’s domestic footprint, pointing out that Microsoft hired more than 9,000 US-born workers over the past year — a contribution he argued had been overlooked in the White House's critique.

According to Smith, the vast majority of Microsoft's green-card applications involve established, long-serving employees rather than new recruits, with backlogs primarily driven by systemic delays in government processing times. He suggested that inaccurate figures had been fed to the executive branch, urging the White House to reassess its position based on the reality of corporate hiring practices.

The friction intensified following an announcement by US Vice President JD Vance that the administration would bar Microsoft and seven other major corporations from seeking permanent residency sponsorships for skilled foreign professionals.

What is the PERM programme suspension?

The policy shift stems from an October 8 decision by the Trump administration to suspend the Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) programme for key IT firms, including Microsoft, TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and Cognizant.

The US immigration process has come under fresh scrutiny after Vice President JD Vance criticised companies for relying on foreign workers, while the Trump administration suspended eight technology companies from the PERM labour certification programme.

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Vance accused companies of using foreign workers to replace laid-off Americans and suppress wages. He described H-1B workers as “foreign indentured servants”, arguing that their dependence on employers could leave them vulnerable to exploitation.

The October 8, announcement has raised concerns among Indian IT professionals who depend on employer sponsorship to secure permanent residency in the United States. The companies named were Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini.

The freeze halts the processing of pending applications and blocks affected companies from filing new certifications, cutting off the primary pathway for skilled professionals to secure permanent residency in the United States.