The voice against the use of the H-1B visa program, allowing US firms to hire foreign workers, is growing in America. Governor Greg Abbott directed all Texas state agencies and universities to freeze new H-1B visa petitions and launch a review of the current H-1B visa program use.
“The economy of Texas should work for the benefit of Texas workers and Texas employers. In light of recent reports of abuse in the federal H-1B visa program, and amid the federal government’s ongoing review of that program to ensure American jobs are going to American workers, I am directing all state agencies to immediately freeze new H-1B visa petitions. State government must lead by example and ensure that employment opportunities — particularly those funded with taxpayer dollars — are filled by Texans first,” reads the directive.
The Governor adds — As noted in President Trump’s proclamation, Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, the federal H-1B visa program was created to supplement the United States’ workforce—not to replace it. Evidence suggests that bad actors have exploited this program by failing to make good-faith efforts to recruit qualified U.S. workers before seeking to use foreign labor.
H-1B Visa Abuse
In the most egregious schemes, employers have even fired American workers and replaced them with H-1B employees, often at lower wages. Rather than serving its intended purpose of attracting the best and brightest individuals from around the world to our nation to fill truly specialized and unmet labor needs, the program has too often been used to fill jobs that otherwise could—and should—have been filled by Texans, reads the letter.
Texas’ workforce is large, diverse, and skilled. Over the last several years, the State has made historic investments in education and job training to ensure that our workforce can meet the demands of a growing economy.
Abbott goes on, “In 2023, I signed legislation investing $5 billion to modernize and expand academic and technical programs across Texas’ higher education system. In 2025, I built on those commitments by allocating hundreds of millions of dollars for workforce services and job training programs, including initiatives designed to align educational attainment with high-demand skills and credentials needed by Texas employers. These investments, alongside many others during my tenure as governor, have distinguished Texas as the best state in the nation to work and have made Texans among the most proficient workers in the nation. We will not cede this distinction.”
The Directives
Abbott gives the following directives to the Texas Workforce Commission and the agency heads:
- No state agency controlled by a gubernatorially appointed head or public institution of higher education shall, without the written permission of the Texas Workforce Commission, initiate or file any new petition to sponsor a nonimmigrant worker under the federal H-1B visa program until the end of the Texas Legislature’s 90th Regular Session on May 31, 2027.
- All state agencies controlled by a gubernatorially appointed head and public institutions of higher education shall, by March 27, 2026, provide the Texas Workforce Commission with a report identifying:
a. How many new and renewal petitions the entity submitted for H-1B visas in 2025;
b. How many H-1B visa holders does the entity currently sponsor?
c. The countries of origin of all H-1B visa holders that the entity currently sponsors;
d. Job classifications and descriptions for each visa holder the entity currently
sponsors;
e. The anticipated expiration date for each visa holder the entity currently sponsors;
and
f. Documentation demonstrating efforts to provide qualified Texas candidates with a reasonable opportunity to apply for each position filled by a H-1B visa holder before a new petition was submitted for that position.