The Trump administration has frozen green card processing at Microsoft and other IT firms, Reuters has reported, pairing the employer crackdown with new probes into universities. The action marks a fresh escalation in the administration's campaign against employment-based immigration.

A green card grants a foreign national the right to live and work in the United States permanently. Employer-sponsored applications, filed mainly under the EB-2 and EB-3 categories, are the main route skilled foreign workers use to move from temporary H-1B status to permanent residence.

Which employers are caught in the freeze?

Reuters names Microsoft directly. The wire service's headline also points to "IT firms" as a wider class of affected sponsors. Major tech companies have historically been among the largest users of EB-2 and EB-3 sponsorship.

The freeze covers employer-filed permanent residency applications. The Reuters report does not specify whether self-petitions face the same hold.

What is happening with universities?

The Reuters report ties the university probes to the same enforcement push. Universities employ many foreign researchers, faculty, and graduate students on temporary visas that often lead to green card sponsorship.

The administration has not named the institutions under investigation. The headline groups the probes with the corporate freeze, suggesting a coordinated immigration sweep across employers and academic institutions.

Who is in scope?

• Microsoft employees with pending green card cases
• Workers at other IT firms covered by the freeze
• University researchers and faculty under probe
• Foreign nationals sponsored through EB-2 and EB-3
• Employers who rely on permanent residency to retain skilled staff

What remains unknown?

The Reuters report leaves several key questions open:

• The number of green card applications now on hold
• Which universities face investigation
• The legal authority used to impose the freeze
• The expected duration of the freeze
• Whether temporary visa categories face parallel limits

How does this fit the administration's record?

The freeze continues a series of restrictions on employment-based immigration. Earlier actions include tighter H-1B eligibility rules, more site visits to employer sponsors, and narrower specialty occupation standards.

Employment-based green card backlogs already run for years, especially for nationals of India and China. Wait times in EB-2 and EB-3 can run past a decade for applicants from those two countries.

What should affected workers and employers do?

• Monitor U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) notices on pending cases
• Track Department of State consular processing updates
• Consult employer counsel for case-specific guidance
• Watch for follow-up Reuters reporting on named firms and universities
• Check whether the freeze covers new filings only or also pending cases

This report is anchored to the Reuters dispatch as the originating source. It will be updated as the administration issues formal guidance and as additional employers or universities are named.