James Fishback, former DOGE architect and now running for Florida governor, is back to making bold claims. After previously calling for a complete H-1B ban and vowing to fire every foreign skilled worker in Florida if elected, Fishback is now targeting foreign students. He said he would raise tuition fees for international students to $1 million, and when they are unable to pay, more opportunities would open up for American students.
‘How about zero foreign students?’
Responding to a post about Florida Rep. Berny Jacques’ plan to cap foreign students at 10% per public college campus, Fishback said, “How about 0 foreign students?” Emphasising that public colleges should “educate Floridians and Americans first,” he added, Florida public colleges like FSU and UF are funded by Florida taxpayers for Florida students. As Governor, I will raise the tuition for every foreign student to $1 million. When they can’t pay, they’re out, and more qualified Florida kids are in,” he wrote.
How about 0 foreign students?
— James Fishback (@j_fishback) December 11, 2025
Florida public colleges like FSU and UF are funded by Florida taxpayers for Florida students.
As Governor, I will raise the tuition on every foreign student to $1 million. When they can’t pay, they’re out, and more qualified Florida kids are in. https://t.co/7iMyIEswER
Fishback is running to succeed Ron DeSantis as Florida’s next Republican governor, promising to tackle the “H-1B scam,” block big companies from buying Florida homes, cancel large AI data centres, and even abolish property taxes.
The 30-year-old is an investor and a political newcomer from Florida. He co-founded Azoria Partners, an investment firm, in 2023 and runs Incubate Debate, a nonprofit helping high school students develop debating skills. He gained attention in June 2025 after stepping away from DOGE following a clash with Elon Musk over Trump-related comments.
Earlier, he pledged major changes for H-1B visa holders in Florida. “I’ll fire every H-1B working at a state agency and cancel state contracts with companies that employ H-1Bs instead of qualified Floridians. I will incentivise companies to hire Americans again,” he wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) handle. Calling out fellow Republican and Trump-endorsed candidate Rep. Byron Donalds for allegedly siding with corporate interests, he added, “H-1Byron won’t do jack but shill for his H-1B corporate donors.”
Trump’s immigration crackdown on foreign students
Back in October, the Trump admin issued a memo asking nine of the nation’s leading universities to limit international undergraduate enrollment to 15% or risk losing federal funds. Additionally, the proposal mentioned that no more than 5% of students at these schools can come from any single country. Universities that already exceed these limits must reduce international student numbers immediately.
The memo came amid ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and universities over diversity policies and allegations of antisemitism. It’s a conditional offer targeting nine named universities: Brown, Dartmouth, MIT, Penn, USC, Vanderbilt, UVA, University of Texas, and University of Arizona.
