'We should all be worried': Microsoft president says changes to green-cards could hurt US tech

Date:
Fri, 16 Oct 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Description:
Brad Smith criticizes JD Vance for being "completely off base" and slates the irony that five out of six Trump award holders were immigrants.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Brad Smith hits back at Trump administration's decision to target Microsoft Five out of six tech/science medal holders were born outside of the US "We should all be worried," Smith says Microsoft President Brad Smith has warned that new restrictions under
the Trump administration could severely damage America's technology industry by limiting its access to skilled migrants.

Speaking with Politico , Smith criticized the administration's decision to restrict Microsoft's ability to sponsor skilled foreign employees for permanent US residency under the green card scheme. By discouraging workers from moving to America, Smith worries that they could be incentivized to move to other countries, both losing America access to skilled professionals while simultaneously boosting other countries' access. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here: Smith hits back at Trump administration to limit green card Microsoft's President's comments come in a response to US Vice President JD Vance's October 8 2026 memo declaring that Microsoft and seven other companies would be suspended from sponsoring foreign workers for permanent residency.

"Our message to Microsoft is, youre a great American company, but youve got
to hire great American workers," Vance said (via The Guardian ). "You cannot lay off American workers and then replace them with foreign indentured servants." You may like US bars Microsoft, Adobe, and major IT firms from green card program for skilled foreign workers to 'protect American jobs' Microsoft's AI chief warns that treating AI as conscious is a huge mistake Trump warns communities opposed to data centers are making a mistake but Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says data centers got the backlash they deserve

Adobe , Cognizant, Infosys, Capgemini, Tata, Wipro and HCL are also impacted by the changes.

"I think we should all be worried about sending intentionally or inadvertently or otherwise signals that send the most talented next wave of AI [or] SI software engineers to other countries, rather than the United States," Smith said. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to
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Smith also criticized the Trump administration for failing to get the numbers right about its green card applications, calling Vance's comments "completely off base" and slating the government because "the green card backlog is so long."

"We should consider the fact that when the president honored six Americans with these technology and science medals, five of the six had come to the United States as immigrants," he added.

The next steps continue to play out, but legal challenges and international worker uncertainty could both be on the cards. Follow TechRadar on Google
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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/we-should-all-be-worried-microsoft-president-say s-changes-to-green-cards-could-hurt-us-tech


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