About a month after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called the H-1B visa program for specialty occupations a “total scam” in a Fox News interview, he has reiterated his stance on the issue through social media. Taking to his X profile on Wednesday (US time), he again slammed the nonimmigrant visa category, which accounts for over 70% Indian nationals as recipients, according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ rants about H-1B visas
Much like the general sentiment prevailing over the US political landscape in recent times, the Republican lawmaker blamed the visa category for importing “cheap foreign labour at the expense of Americans.”
He further fumed, “That is not justifiable in any event, but it is especially galling when artificial intelligence is forecast to reduce a significant number of white collar jobs.”
DeSantis’ claims about AI go hand-in-hand with alarming data cited by Fortune in July. According to the months-old report, it is believed that about 60% of 2,5000 white collar tech workers thinks their jobs and entire teams could be taken over by artificial intelligence within the next three-five years.
The Florida governor’s latest rant against H-1B visas was in response to a Brevard Republicans’ X post highlighting White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller’s comments on immigration. The original tweet came out in late May 2025. Much like DeSantis, the GOP post also takes a dig at the visa program for being a “pipeline fore cheap foreign labour.”
Dragging it as a “scam,” the Republican also bemoaned about how the H-1B category “lets corporations bypass American grads, while universities and tech giants cash in.” Going as far as calling it a “betrayal of the American worker,” the post asked at the time, “With AI already threatening millions of jobs, why is DC making it worse?”
The H1-b visa program is a scam. It’s been used to import cheap foreign labor at the expense of Americans.
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) September 24, 2025
That is not justifiable in any event, but it is especially galling when artificial intelligence is forecast to reduce a significant number of white collar jobs. https://t.co/h6Kd4xLGTk
Miller, on the other hand, is heard speaking out against how the US doesn’t do enough to “reward and celebrate American genius.” Standing outside the White House, the key advisor behind Trump’s coarse immigration policy addressed the case of deportation, revocation of visa status for some, illegal immigration (and more) at the time.
Ron DeSantis’ previous ‘H-1B is a scam’ comments
Around a month back, Ron DeSantis accused Indians of taking advantage of “indentured servitude,” saying, “Often, people used to say, ‘We’re getting the cream of the crop from all around the world.’ The reality is that’s not actually what H1Bs are. Most of them are from one country…there’s a cottage industry about how all that people make money off this system.”
Back then, he also alleged – as many MAGA supporters have been doing for a while – that companies were laying off a massive number of Americas while hiring news H-1B workers and renewing the existing visa recipients’ status.
On the same page of the conversation, ANI quoted US State Department’s Margaret MacLeod chiming on the issue. “We want to invest in American citizens, first and foremost, in training them,” she said curtly hot on the heels of US Presiden Donald Trump signing off on a proclamation that imposed a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications.