White House targets Stanford, Caltech and tech giants in visa crackdown
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House → target → crackdown
- The Trump administration is investigating Stanford, Caltech, UC Davis and other universities over J-1 visas, alleging they bring in foreign researchers and students at Americans’ expense.
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they → investigate → expense
Microsoft and other tech companies face a targeted freeze on green-card applications for H-1B workers, unsettling an industry that depends on international talent.
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that → face → talent
- The crackdown adds to policies making it harder for international students and researchers to come to U.S. campuses; California led the nation in new research scholars in 2025.
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California → add → 2025
The White House is expanding its campaign against international workers, targeting elite study and work visa holders with restrictions and a new investigation.
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House → expand → restrictions
On Thursday, the Trump administration announced a probe into whether Stanford, Caltech, UC Davis and other universities across the country have been abusing a special visa used by international scholars and students to do research and work in the U.S.
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Stanford → announce → U.S.
It is also suspending Microsoft, Adobe and six other tech companies from how they sponsor employees who are in the country under a highly skilled worker visa program.
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who → suspend → program
The White House’s concern is that schools and companies are too quick to bring in people from outside the U.S. The moves rattled Silicon Valley executives and California educators who see easy access to the smartest, hardest-working people in the world as one of America’s greatest competitive advantages.
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who → bring → advantages
Multiple states argue the $100,000 fee for each new skilled worker visa for foreign employees working in the U.S. threatens critical education and healthcare services.
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fee → argue → education
Vice President JD Vance said the universities being investigated are overusing J-1 visas to bring in students and researchers from abroad.
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universities → say → students
The international scholars then take jobs and grants that could go to Americans.
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that → take → Americans
“They are using these visas way too much,” he said.
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he → use → visas
“They are using them to undercut the wages of American grad students and American researchers, and it simply has to stop.”
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it → use → students
Harvard, Yale, Brown, the University of Pittsburgh, Arizona State and MIT will also be investigated.
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Harvard → investigate → Pittsburgh
Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito said subpoenas have been served and “nobody will be getting a free pass because their name is carved into an expensive building.”
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name → say → building
Many universities have buildings named for foreign donors.
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universities → have → donors
Trump last year hiked the fee for H-1B work visas to $100,000, saying it would protect Americans from losing their jobs.
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it → hike → jobs
But a federal judge has struck down the fees.
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judge → strike → fees
While most of the companies targeted for the tech visa restriction were Indian, Vance called out Microsoft.
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Vance → target → Microsoft
“There’s been no company, unfortunately, in the United States that has abused this system more than Microsoft,” Vance told reporters at a White House news conference.
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Vance → abuse → conference
Vance said the company has abused the permanent labor certification program, which he argued has enabled Microsoft to hire international talent that is then paid less to replace American workers.
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that → say → workers
The new development suspends Microsoft from applying for green cards for workers who come to the U.S. on H-1B visas and later apply to become permanent residents.
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who → suspend → visas
American technology giants have relied on the H-1B visa program for decades to bring in thousands of skilled foreign workers they cannot find locally.
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they → rely → workers
Critics have accused the program of being riddled with fraud and abuse.
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Critics → accuse → fraud
The administration’s power move came the same day President Trump awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to two prime examples of international talent who came to the U.S. on student and work visas: Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella and Tesla’s Elon Musk.
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who → come → visas
Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini were also on the list of companies that will no longer be able to apply for permanent residence status for their H-1B employees.
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that → apply → employees
Microsoft defended the use of H-1B and said in a statement that it looked forward to sharing additional information with the administration.
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it → defend → administration
In a post, it said that of the thousands of H-1B visa applications it submitted in the last fiscal year, 80% were to extend or change the status of existing Microsoft employees.
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% → say → employees
“They equal only 1% of our U.S. workforce.
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They → equal → workforce
They are not new arrivals to our country,” the company said.
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company → say → country
“Microsoft only files H-1B petitions for those who meet the rigorous standards of this visa category.”
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who → file → category
There’s a limit of 85,000 H-1B visas issued in a fiscal year, and they are selected through a lottery system.
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they → ’ → system
Last year, Microsoft was the third-largest beneficiary of the program, with 6,258 H-1B visas, according to data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
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Microsoft → accord → Services
Amazon led the list, employing more than 13,000 H-1 B visa holders; Adobe had 777 approved applications.
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Adobe → lead → applications
The Thursday announcement has sparked confusion among technology workers and companies.
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announcement → spark → workers
Immigration lawyers point out that the action is not a blanket suspension of green card applications for all employers, but a targeted enforcement freeze on the Permanent Labor Certification program for the eight named corporations.
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action → point → corporations
Proponents of H-1B note that Silicon Valley’s biggest tech companies are founded or run by immigrants, and the efforts to thwart H-1B have already started stifling talent flow and startup creation.
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efforts → note → flow
“It’s only going to probably hurt some companies and hurt the best and the brightest that are coming here,” said Devashish Mitra, professor of economics at Syracuse University.
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Mitra → go → University
“It’s like throwing the baby with the bathwater.
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It → ’ → bathwater
The J-1 investigations follow other actions, making it more difficult for international students to come to U.S. campuses.
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students → follow → campuses
…and 19 more, not listed.
The Aporia
