Why hire H1B visa hands when Texans can do the job? asks Texas governor
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Washington: Texas Governor Greg Abbott has hit out against the grant of H1B visas for job opportunities that native Americans can take. Although granting of visas is a federal decision, he indicated that the state could explore if the state could stop it.
Abbot said his administration is reviewing the use of H-1B visas in the state’s public schools, universities and other taxpayer-funded institutions, raising questions about whether foreign workers are being hired for positions that Texans can readily fill.
Speaking on The Mark Davis Show on Monday, Abbott said his office has begun collecting information from public agencies to assess “the extent to which Texas taxpayer dollars are being used to pay for any of these people”, referring to H-1B visa holders employed in state institutions.
The governor said the review covers public schools, colleges and universities, as well as other areas where state funds may be involved. He added that inquiries have been sent to agencies across Texas to compile details on the number of H-1B workers employed, the positions they hold and the justification for their hiring.
“We have inquiries out right now to all of those agencies gathering the information that we need, and are hoping to be able to make an announcement later this week about an action plan that Texas is beginning to take,” Abbott said during the radio interview.
Abbott stressed that the H-1B visa programme is administered by the federal government, not the states. However, he said Texas is examining what authority it may have when state funds are involved. “This is a federal programme, only a federal programme. It’s not a state programme,” he said, adding that his administration is looking at “what authority would we have to do anything about this”.
He said the review is focused on whether public institutions are using H-1B workers in roles that do not require unique or specialised skills. “For example, what job is it in our public schools in the State of Texas that these H-1B visa personnel are fulfilling that we can’t fulfil here in our own public schools?” Abbott said. “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.”
The governor also voiced concerns about what he described as possible abuse of the visa programme, echoing claims by some conservatives that H-1B visas have been misused. He referred to reports of multiple visa holders being registered at a single address and said there has been “extraordinary controversy” surrounding how some H-1B workers were admitted.
Abbott further suggested that some individuals who entered the United States on H-1B visas may have overstayed or were insufficiently vetted, particularly during the Biden administration. “Some of these H-1B visa issues are people who were allowed in either under the Biden administration or even before that who’ve overstayed their visa,” he said.
Linking the state’s review to broader federal immigration enforcement efforts under President Donald Trump, Abbott said Texas is in communication with the administration and that the president has made the issue a priority.
Abbott said the objective of the review is to ensure public safety and protect jobs for Texans. “The fact of the matter is we want to make sure that our communities are safe,” he said. “We want to make sure that our communities are not having people come in and take jobs that Texans can easily fill.”
Depending on the findings, Abbott said Texas could urge the federal government to take further action. “It may be that we’re having to call specifically on the Trump administration to withdraw them,” he said, referring to certain H-1B visa holders.
The H-1B programme allows United States employers to hire foreign workers in speciality occupations that typically require at least a bachelor’s degree. It is widely used in sectors such as technology, medicine, research and higher education, and has long been a subject of political debate in Washington.
In recent years, critics have argued that the programme can undercut United States workers or be used for jobs that do not require highly specialised skills, while supporters say it helps address labour shortages and enables employers to recruit global talent in critical sectors.
With IANS inputs