Vance says Microsoft replaced laid-off workers with foreign hires. Here’s what the visa data shows

As the Trump administration announced Thursday that it suspended eight tech companies from sponsoring foreign workers for green cards, Vice President JD Vance singled out Microsoft, claiming it replaced the 6,000 workers it laid off in 2025 with people on H-1B work visas.

The suspension of the Labor Department's PERM program for green cards, which grant permanent residency to immigrants, doesn't affect H-1Bs, which are temporary work permits, but H-1B approval data shows how heavily these companies rely on foreign workers.

Data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' H-1B Employer Data Hub also shows that Amazon and Meta were the biggest sponsors of H-1B visas, and neither was suspended.

The crackdown went beyond tech. At the same news conference Thursday, the Labor Department's inspector general, Anthony D'Esposito, announced an investigation into alleged J-1 visa fraud involving nine major American universities. Trump supporters have long argued that these programs undercut American workers by incentivizing employers to hire from abroad.