Pakistan, Oct. 9 -- The Trump administration on Thursday froze some green-card filings by Microsoft, Adobe and major IT outsourcers and opened probes into nine elite universities, widening a visa crackdown it says targets fraud and American job losses.

The twin actions mark the broadest strike yet against skilled-worker immigration programmes, potentially blocking a common path to permanent residency for thousands of foreign tech workers while putting some of the country's most prominent research universities on notice.

The moves come even as the administration cultivates closer ties with the same tech leaders whose companies are now in its crosshairs. "Our message to Microsoft is: You're a great American company, but you've got to hire...