Texas Republicans are working hand in hand with the Trump administration in a crackdown on work visas for high-skilled immigrants — and it’s threatening a renowned cancer hospital in Houston.
On Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott, a close ally of the president, announced a freeze on all H-1B visa petitions at all state agencies and universities, as well as a review of all existing H-1B visa programs in Texas, ostensibly to combat fraud.
“The economy of Texas should work for the benefit of Texas workers and Texas employers,” said Abbott’s order. “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. State government must lead by example and ensure that employment opportunities — particularly those funded with taxpayer dollars — are filled by Texans first.”
This move was immediately slammed by Connor O’Brien of the Institute for Progress think tank.
“This ban covers the MD Anderson Cancer Center, arguably the best cancer hospital in the world,” wrote O’Brien on X. “They hire top-notch doctors, specialists, and researchers using H-1B visas every year. Bowing to the mob here means hurting cancer patients in Texas and across America. Crazy.”
The Trump administration has long claimed to support legal immigration; however, this is belied by a growing fracture in the MAGA base over H-1B visas, which particularly enrage some far-right nativists because of how many skilled professionals from India use the program to come to the United States. One of the first signs of tension between Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk, after he spent heavily to get Trump elected, was Musk’s passionate defense of the H-1B program.
All of this comes amid nationwide outrage over Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s brutal and increasingly lethal crackdown tactics in Minnesota. Even Abbott himself, though he pointedly assigned much of the blame to state and local Democratic officials, acknowledged in a recent interview that the White House needs to “recalibrate” its strategy.
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