Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is ordering state agencies and public universities in Texas to halt H-1B hiring, the latest setback for foreign workers looking to work in the US.
In a letter to Texas state agency heads on Tuesday, Abbott wrote that there had been “recent reports of abuse” in the H-1B visa program, which is designed to bring high-skilled foreign workers to the US.
“Texas taxpayers invest billions to train our workforce,” Abbott wrote on X. “Those jobs should go to Texans.”
Abbott is also directing agencies and universities to provide information on how many petitions they submitted in 2025, how many visa holders they currently sponsor, their countries of origin, and more.
The freeze is set to last through May 2027, and includes exceptions for instances in which written permission from the Texas Workforce Commission is given.
“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,” Abbott wrote.
Texas has the second most H-1B visa holders of any state after California.
As of 2025, more than 40,000 beneficiaries were approved to work for more than 6,100 employers, according to data from US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
According to that data, more than 1,200 H-1B visa holders work in the at various public universities in the state, including the University of Texas system, Texas A&M University, Texas Tech, and others.
The top employers for H-1B visa holders in Texas are IT companies and tech firms, including Oracle and Tesla.
The latest obstacle for H-1B visa candidates
The governor’s directive comes as President Donald Trump’s administration has upended the H-1B visa program more broadly.
In September, Trump moved to impose a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visas, initially causing chaos at some major tech companies amid confusion over whether that fee applies to current employees who leave the country.
The administration rolled out social media screening requirements for visa holders in December, leading some firms to warn their employees against traveling outside the country.
H-1B visas have proven to be a divisive issue within Trump’s coalition, with some — most notably Elon Musk — arguing that the US must continue to bring in foreign talent to remain globally competitive.
Prominent business leaders who previously worked in the US under an H-1B visa include Musk, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Arista Networks CEO Jayshree Ullal, and Jeffrey Skoll, the first president of eBay.
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