State agencies and colleges in Texas have been blocked from seeking foreign workers through the H-1B visa program under a freeze initiated Tuesday by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
“Texans come first. I’m directing state agencies and universities to freeze new H-1B visa petitions,” Abbott wrote in a post on X.
“Texas taxpayers invest billions to train our workforce. Those jobs should go to Texans. Texas is the strongest economic engine in America. We’re going to keep it that way,” Abbott wrote.
Texans come first.
I’m directing state agencies and universities to freeze new H-1B visa petitions. Texas taxpayers invest billions to train our workforce. Those jobs should go to Texans.
Texas is the strongest economic engine in America. We’re going to keep it that way.…
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) January 27, 2026
The freeze will remain in effect until May 31, 2027, unless approved in writing by the Texas Workforce Commission, according to Fox News.
The H-1B program allows employers to bring foreign workers into the United States, generally for positions in industries with a purported shortage of Americans.
Most H-1B workers in Texas work for private companies, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas tops the list of public universities using the program, with 228 H-1B visa holders, followed by Texas A&M with 214, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston with 171, and the University of Texas at Austin with 169.
Abbott’s letter said that “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 as outlined in this letter,” he wrote.
Abbott referenced a proclamation from President Donald Trump when saying that “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,” the letter said.
“In the most egregious schemes, employers have even fired American workers and replaced them with H-1B employees, often at lower wages,” Abbott said.
“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,” he continued.
“State government must lead by example and ensure that employment opportunities — particularly those funded with taxpayer dollars — are filled by Texans first,” he wrote.
Abbott ordered that state agencies and colleges must give him a report detailing the jobs filled by H-1B visa holders and the efforts made to fill those jobs with Texas residents.
Trump has said that he wants to raise the fee an employer pays for an H-1B visa by $100,000.
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