The Trump administration delivered two sharply contradictory signals on immigration and the technology sector within hours of each other.

Vice President JD Vance addressed the White House in the morning, accusing Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and other technology and IT outsourcing firms of exploiting the U.S. immigration system to the detriment of American workers.

Vance alleged that companies were using foreign labor, whom he described as “foreign indentured servants,” to “undercut the wages of American workers” rather than hiring qualified American candidates.

He declared the H-1B visa program, designed to bring exceptional global talent into roles Americans cannot fill, had become “rife with fraud over the last several years.”

Vance singled out Microsoft specifically, stating “there has been no company in the United States, unfortunately, that has abused this system more than Microsoft.”

Speaking as chair of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, Vance announced the government had “decided to suspend the PERM program for Microsoft” due to an “ongoing investigation.”

Microsoft pushed back against the accusations, stating it “only files H-1B petitions for those who meet the rigorous standards of this visa category.”

India’s government also responded to Vance’s remarks, calling them “deeply offensive,” with official USCIS data showing that 70% of H-1B petition beneficiaries approved in fiscal year 2025 were born in India.

Later that same evening, President Donald Trump awarded the National Medal of Science to Elon Musk, Sergey Brin, Jensen Huang, and Lisa Su, while India-born Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Michael Dell received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

Five of the six recipients are immigrants, making the timing of Trump’s ceremony a striking contrast to Vance’s morning remarks targeting immigrant labor in the technology industry.

The PERM suspension also extends beyond Microsoft, affecting Adobe and six IT outsourcing firms including Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies, and Capgemini.

While the suspension does not block H-1B visa applications, the administration has separately sought to raise costs, with Trump signing a proclamation in September 2025 imposing a $100,000 fee on each new H-1B petition, up from the previous range of $2,000 to $5,000.

Federal courts blocked and vacated that fee policy in rulings in June and September 2026, meaning the fee is not currently being collected, though the administration is appealing those decisions.

Nvidia’s President and CEO Jensen Huang, himself one of the medal recipients, previously told staff in a memo that he would continue sponsoring visas and absorb the cost, writing that “the miracle of Nvidia — built by all of you, and by brilliant colleagues around the world — would not be possible without immigration.”

Huang added that “legal immigration remains essential to ensuring the U.S. continues to lead in technology and ideas,” underscoring the industry’s dependence on global talent pipelines.

Politico reported that four representatives of the technology industry have warned the PERM suspension could actively undermine the administration’s own stated goal of keeping the United States a global innovation leader.

The contradiction between honoring immigrant tech founders with the nation’s highest science awards and simultaneously restricting the immigration pathways that produce such talent is generating significant attention across the industry.