Fury erupts as U.S. brand fires 1,600 employees after securing thousands of foreign worker visas –One lawmaker called to end the H-1B foreign worker visa program entirely | 9 July 2026 | A popular U.S.-based gaming brand owned by Microsoft is facing fury after mass employee layoffs occurred in the wake of the company being approved for thousands of foreign worker visas. Microsoft announced that it will lay off 4,800 people total and 1,600 from the corporation’s XBOX division, which makes and sells the dominant video game console. Meanwhile, Microsoft has been approved this year to hire from foreign countries 2,273 employer-sponsored, non-immigrant workers under what is known as the H-1B visa program, according to data from U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS). A great way to fix this is to throw anyone doing this in prison,” said one user on X. “Fire Americans to replace with thousands of visa workers? Straight to jail, and assets seized. This story has been told countless times. Fire American staff and hire foreigners. Over and over.” [Excellent idea!]