Microsoft and Adobe are suspended from H-1B visa program, with Vance accusing the tech giants of fraud

Microsoft and Adobe have been suspended from the H-1B visa program, Vice President JD Vance announced Thursday, amid accusations that they and other companies have extensively abused the system to hire cheaper labor. “This is a great day for American workers, because we are taking some very concrete actions to cut down on some of the H-1B and J-1 visa fraud that we’ve been tracking over the past several months,” Vance said at a Thursday morning press conference. Microsoft and Adobe did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The J-1 visa is for foreign students, teachers, researchers and a few other visitor categories. The H-1B program allows companies to hire nonimmigrant foreign workers for roles that require specialized knowledge when they can’t be filled by the U.S. workforce. Vance said the latter program has become “rife with fraud over the last several years—probably the last several decades.” Rather than use H-1B visas for their intended purpose, he said, companies and outsourcing firms are using it to replace American workers “with what is effectively foreign indentured servants,” who are “being mistreated by their employers and being used to undercut the wages o…