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The Trump administration has temporarily barred Microsoft and several other tech firms from sponsoring foreign workers for permanent US residency. Vice President JD Vance stated on Thursday that the H-1B visa program had become rife with fraud and insulted American workers. He specifically accused Microsoft of abusing the system by laying off American employees to replace them with foreign workers.

This accusation triggered an angry response from India’s foreign ministry, which called the remarks deeply offensive due to their colonial connotations. The Indian government argued that Indian professionals are highly skilled contributors to the US economy. Six other IT companies, including Cognizant and Infosys, were also suspended from the Permanent Labor Certification program.

Microsoft responded by saying most of its US employees are American and that the visa applications mentioned were mostly for extending existing workers’ status. The company noted it pays high compensation compared to other H-1B filings. Meanwhile, the administration announced a fraud investigation into J-1 student visas at nine universities, including Harvard and Yale.