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Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday directed all public universities and state agencies to freeze new H-1B visa applications, escalating his administration’s scrutiny of foreign workers employed at taxpayer-funded institutions.
Under the directive, public universities and state agencies may not initiate or file new H-1B visa petitions without written permission from the Texas Workforce Commission through the end of the next legislative session on May 31, 2027.
Abbott also ordered agencies and higher education institutions to submit detailed reports to the commission, including the number of new or renewed H-1B visa petitions filed in 2025, the number of H-1B visa holders currently sponsored, job titles, countries of origin and visa expiration dates. He also directed agencies and universities to provide documentation showing they made an effort to give qualified Texans a reasonable opportunity to apply for positions filled by H-1B visa holders.
“State government must lead by example and ensure that employment opportunities — particularly those funded with taxpayer dollars — are filled by Texans first,” Abbott said.
Abbott previewed the move a day earlier during an interview with Mark Davis, a conservative radio talk show host, saying the state sought visa information from public schools and universities and expected to announce an “action plan” after reviewing the data.
“I don’t see any reason why we need any H-1B visa employees in our public schools in the state of Texas. But we’re going to find out if there’s some unique skill set or whatever the case may be,” Abbott said Monday.
He also suggested that some visa holders may have been admitted before or during the Biden administration and may have overstayed.
“Those, again, are the type of people that the Trump administration is trying to remove,” Abbott said.
Emails obtained by Quorum Report show Abbott’s office last week asked Texas A&M University System leaders to provide data on employees working under H-1B visas by close of business Monday.
The request followed reporting by conservative news site The Dallas Express on Thursday saying it had sought public records related to Texas A&M University’s use of H-1B visas for months and filed a complaint with the Texas attorney general before receiving the information. The outlet reported that Texas A&M spent about $3.25 million on H-1B visa sponsorships and related costs over roughly five years, compared with about $1.1 million spent by the University of Texas at Dallas during a similar period.
H-1B visas let employers hire foreign workers for specialized jobs that require at least a bachelor’s degree, with applications vetted and approved by the federal government. Public universities and academic medical centers often use the visas to hire professors, researchers, doctors and other highly trained staff.
Federal immigration data show, as of Sept. 30, 2025, Dallas ISD employs 230 H-1B visa holders, the most of any education-related employer in Texas, followed by UT Southwestern Medical Center with 220 and Texas A&M University with 210. Other major employers include UT MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Texas at Austin, according to the data.
Texas A&M University System had already discontinued sponsoring new H-1B visa petitions that would require it to pay a $100,000 federal fee, according to Chris Bryan, the system’s vice chancellor for marketing and communications. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation in September imposing the fee on certain new H-1B visa petitions.
“We have received Governor Abbott’s directive ordering a freeze on new H-1B visa petitions at Texas public institutions of higher education, and we are fully complying with that directive,” Bryan said.
The Texas Tribune also reached out to several University of Texas System institutions for comment. None responded. Several campuses were closed earlier this week due to winter weather.
Higher education advocates say restricting universities’ ability to hire international faculty and researchers could have economic consequences for Texas and weaken the state’s innovation pipeline.
“What has made U.S. higher education the best in the world is that we have been able to attract the best people for these positions,” said Miriam Feldblum, co-founder and CEO of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, a national coalition of college and university leaders focused on immigration policy.
She added that recent federal policies, including the $100,000 fee for some new H-1B hires from abroad, already threaten U.S. universities’ competitiveness.
Texas is not alone in scrutinizing universities’ use of H-1B visas. In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis last year directed the state’s public university system to curb its use of the program, arguing that universities were misusing the visas and should prioritize hiring U.S. citizens. Florida’s Board of Governors, which oversees the state’s public university system, is considering a proposal to pause new H-1B visa hires through early 2027.
_The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage._
_Disclosure: Texas A &M University, Texas A&M University System, UT Southwestern Medical Center and University of Texas System have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here._
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