WASHINGTON — The backdrop said it all: AMERICAN JOBS. AMERICAN WORKERS. FIGHTING VISA FRAUD. On Thursday, October 8, 2026, Vice President JD Vance took the White House podium for a press conference on the Trump Administration’s crackdown on visa abuse — and he did not soft-pedal the stakes. “There’s this pernicious idea… that Americans are not good enough for the jobs in their own country,” Vance said. “To the American people, this visa fraud is a frontal assault.”

The numbers are the indictment. “If you are working as an H-1B visa in the United States of America, you’re earning $20,000 less than an American citizen hired in the same position,” the Vice President said. “If you were brought in by one of these foreign outsourcing firms, you’re making” even less. That is not a talent strategy. That is a wage-suppression racket dressed up as innovation, and the White House Fraud Task Force — with Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling — is tearing it down.

Enforcement has teeth. Vance announced that, thanks to an ongoing investigation, the Administration is suspending the PERM program for Microsoft, cutting off that company’s path to convert those H-1Bs into permanent resident status. He also called out J-1 abuse at universities that “bring in foreigners again, to undercut the wages of American residents,” saying nine universities in particular “merit an investigation.” On fees, the principle is simple: “if you’re actually bringing a truly elite genius level super specialized person to the United States of America, you’re going to be willing to pay a little bit extra.”

The moral center of the speech was a defense of the American worker. “We have to push back against this lie,” Vance said. “Americans are good enough to inherit the great things about their country. Americans are good enough to build a future in this country.” Under President Trump, the deal is clear: grow your company, hire a lot of people — but hire Americans, and do not lay them off to import cheaper labor. Watch the Official White House video of the Vice President’s visa-fraud press conference.