Vance Explains Big Tech Visa Crackdown: Replacing American Workers With "Foreign Indentured Servants" Is Fraud
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2026/10/08/vance_explains_big_tech_visa_crackdown_replacing_american_workers_with_foreign_indentured_servants_is_fraud.html

RCP's Carolina Lumetta asked Vice President Vance during a press conference Thursday announcing a crackdown on alleged abuse and fraud in work visa programs (https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2026/10/08/full_press_conference_vance_announces_crackdown_on_big_tech_universities_it_firms_over_alleged_foreign_work_visa_fraud.html) to explain exactly what fraud they are targeting.

The administration announced this morning that it is suspending six of the largest IT outsourcing consultants and several major technology companies, including Microsoft and Adobe, from participating in the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) program, blocking them from sponsoring foreign workers for employment-based green cards.

The PERM program requires employers to prove there are no qualified Americans available to take the position before sponsoring green cards for foreign workers.

"The fraud is that they are making representations while applying for this program that are fundamentally illegitimate and therefore ultimately illegal," Vance said.

"When you apply for these visa programs, you make a couple of certifications," Vance said. "One of the certifications is that the person you're bringing in has a hyper-specialized, hyper-capable skill set. That is clearly not the case if you're just replacing one American worker with a foreign indentured servant and undercutting their wages in the process."

"Our ​message to Microsoft is: You're a great American company, ​but you've got to hire great American workers," Vance said at the beginning of the press conference.

He explained the details at the beginning of the event:

Vice President JD Vance announces the suspension of the PERM Program for Microsoft:

"Thanks to an ongoing investigation, we have decided to suspend the PERM program for Microsoft, which means they will no longer be able to take those H-1Bs and apply for permanent resident status within the United States of America. Now our message to Microsoft and to any other foreign or domestic corporation is quite simple. We obviously want you to thrive in the United States of America. We want people to invest in the United States of America, particularly the American technology sector. We're the biggest boosters of your industry. We want you to continue to grow and to employ a lot of people, but we want you to employ American workers. And so our message to Microsoft is, you're great American company, but you've got to hire great American workers. You cannot lay off American workers and then replace them with foreign indentured servants."- Vice President JD Vance (@VP) October 8, 2026 (https://x.com/VP/status/2108215063702036519?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)


VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE: I saw RealClear over here!

CAROLINA LUMETTA: Can you clarify what exactly the fraud element of this is? What is the scale of it? You mentioned Microsoft with the 6,300 [visas] (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/08/us/politics/microsoft-visas-green-cards.html?eafs_enabled=false)? Were they lying on those applications? Was there some kind of law they were breaking? Or was this a legal pathway to the system and you are taking an objection to that?

VANCE: I don't think it was a legal pathway through the system. The nature of the fraud is fundamentally, when you apply for these visa programs, you make a couple of certifications. One of the certifications is that the person you're bringing in has a hyper-specialized, hyper-capable skill set. That is clearly not the case if you're just replacing one American worker with a foreign indentured servant and undercutting their wages in the process.