Trump administration bans tech giants

Donald Trump's administration has temporarily banned Microsoft, Adobe and six other tech companies from sponsoring workers for permanent US residency, claiming they abused immigration programs.

Vance attacks H-1B visa programme

Vice-president JD Vance said on Thursday that the H-1B visa programme for highly skilled foreign workers had become rife with fraud and that over-reliance on such schemes was a fundamental insult to the American worker.

“become rife with fraud”

Microsoft singled out for abuse

Vance said no company in the US had abused the H-1B system more than Microsoft, accusing it of laying off American workers and replacing them with foreign indentured servants.

“lay off American workers and then replace them with foreign indentured servants”

India condemns colonial language

India's foreign ministry said on Friday that Vance's terminology carries painful historical and colonial legacy connotations and is deeply offensive, noting Indian professionals are highly educated and skilled contributors to the US economy.

“Resorting to terminology that carries painful historical and colonial legacy connotations is deeply offensive”

Seven companies suspended from hiring

Six other IT outsourcing companies, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini, were also suspended from the Permanent Labor Certification programme, which allows US employers to hire foreign workers permanently.

Microsoft cites specific visa numbers

Vance said Microsoft laid off six thousand American workers last year while benefiting from six thousand three hundred H-1B visas and almost three thousand green cards.

Medal awarded amid investigation

At a separate event on Thursday, the Trump administration gave Microsoft's chief executive Satya Nadella the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. Vance said there was no contradiction between the two announcements.

“You're a great American company, but you've got to hire great American workers.”