WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 -- Thousands of foreign engineers who expected Microsoft to carry them toward permanent residency woke up on Thursday to find that road closed. The Trump administration froze green-card labour filings for Microsoft, Adobe and six of the world's largest IT outsourcing firms, widening a visa crackdown that it says targets fraud and protects American jobs.

Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said the department would stop handling Permanent Labor Certification applications, known as PERM, for Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini. "We will not accept any new or process any pending permanent labor certification applications involving these companies," Sonderling...