TX Gov Abbott orders freeze on H-1B visas in Texas, launches investigation

Investigating the H-1B visa worker processes is the latest action Gov. Greg Abbott is taking to address taxpayer-funded programs benefitting noncitizens in Texas.

On Tuesday, the governor directed all state agencies and publicly funded higher education institutions to freeze H-1B visa petitions and launch a review of current program use.

"The economy of Texas should work for the benefit of Texas workers and Texas employers," Abbott said. "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."

The directive prohibits state agencies whose directors are appointed by the governor from initiating or filing any new H-1B visa petitions until the end of the next legislative session next May – indicating that visa restriction legislation is being drafted.

Abbott directed all state agencies to provide the Texas Workforce Commission with a report about program use, including: how many new and renewal H-1B petitions they submitted in 2025; how many H-1B visa holders they currently employ, their countries of origin, job classifications and descriptions for each visa holder; the anticipated expiration date for each visa holder, and documentation proving they gave qualified Texas candidates a reasonable opportunity to apply for each position before hiring a H-1B visa holder.

The directive also applies to all public higher education institutions.

State agencies and higher education institutions collectively employ hundreds of thousands of Texans and significantly shape the state labor market.

Abbott points to an executive order issued last September by President Donald Trump, stating the 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. In the most egregious schemes, employers have even fired American workers and replaced them with H-1B employees, often at lower wages.”

The H-1B program is administered and overseen by several federal agencies, including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the departments of State and Labor. It allows employers “to hire nonimmigrant aliens as workers in specialty occupations or as fashion models of distinguished merit and ability.”

A specialty occupation requires “highly specialized knowledge” and a bachelor’s degree.

The purpose of the program is “to help employers who cannot otherwise obtain needed business skills and abilities from the U.S. workforce by authorizing the temporary employment of qualified individuals who are not otherwise authorized to work in the United States,” USCIS states.

Trump’s order restricted entry for “aliens as nonimmigrants to perform services in specialty occupations in the H-1B program unless their petition is accompanied by a $100,000 payment.”

“American workers are being replaced with lower-paid foreign labor, creating an economic and national security threat to the nation,” Trump said, noting that IT workers with H-1B visas accounted for 32% in fiscal 2003, surpassing 65% in recent years.

His order also points to high unemployment among recent U.S. computer science graduates as the number of foreign STEM workers more than doubled over the last 20 years. “The H-1B program is creating disincentives for future American workers to choose STEM careers, which threatens our national security,” Trump said.

Meanwhile, American companies are laying off U.S. citizens and seemingly replacing them with H-1B workers, the order states, citing examples and data, including companies requiring American workers to train their foreign replacements.

In September, federal agencies began efforts to comply with the order. USCIS launched a fraud investigation, as did the DOL, called Project Firewall, to “safeguard the rights, wages, and job opportunities of highly skilled American workers by ensuring employers prioritize qualified Americans when hiring workers and holding employers accountable if they abuse the H-1B visa process.”

DHS also began overhauling the visa process and immigration system, The Center Square reported.

Abbott, who is running for his fourth term, said that since he’s been in office, he’s prioritized growing Texas’ economy, made Texas a premier location for job seekers and job creators and allocated record funding for education and workforce training. Every month, Texas leads the U.S. in job creation and economic growth, The Center Square reported.

In 2023, the governor and legislature allocated $5 billion to modernize and expand academic and technical educational programs, including for semiconductor research and development. Last year, they allocated hundreds of millions of dollars for workforce services and skills-based training, The Center Square reported.

“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,” he said.