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Microsoft laying off U.S. workers while still requesting more H-1B visas is nothing new. In 2014, while laying off thousands of employees, Microsoft was simultaneously lobbying Congress to expand the H-1B program. Senator @jeffsessions publicly criticized the company for asking for more foreign workers while eliminating American jobs. When Congress refused to act, the Obama administration expanded work authorization for international students through the STEM OPT program in 2016, effectively creating a backdoor around the H-1B cap, a policy Microsoft had strongly lobbied for. Microsoft will continue to sponsor visas because nothing in the law prevents the company from doing so. Meanwhile, Congress remains deadlocked on the issue, leaving the existing system in place. The Trump administration has the authority to end STEM OPT if it chooses. So far, however, the admin’s enforcement strategy has focused largely on Indian IT outsourcing firms while leaving the broader system that supplies labor to the largest technology companies intact. Not surprising considering the CEOs of some of the largest tech companies remain very close to the White House staff. If the administration is serious about reforming employment-based immigration, ending STEM OPT would be one of the clearest places to start. It has the legal authority to do so.