Texas puts a hex on H-1B visas after fraud charges

TOI correspondant from Washington: Two years after he led a second trade mission to India seeking closer energy and tech ties, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has dropped a hammer on H-1B visas.

Responding to growing MAGA sentiment against all immigration amid allegations of visa fraud, Abbott on Tuesday ordered an immediate freeze on new H-1B petitions by all state agencies and public universities.In a letter to agency heads, the Texas governor cited “recent reports of abuse,” in the H-1B program — designed to allow employers to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations — to assert that it has been misused to replace qualified Americans with lower-paid labor. “The state government must lead by example,” he said, adding that public institutions should rely on foreign workers only when a “unique skill set” cannot be found locally. He questioned in particular the use of H-1B visas in public K-12 education and other state-funded roles that bring in teachers, instructors, and researchers, many from India. The directive, which will remain in effect until May 31, 2027, also applies to renewals and is intended to give lawmakers time to review what Abbott described as “systemic abuse” of the federal skilled-worker program.

The Texas Workforce Commission will now oversee a detailed audit. By March 2026, agencies must disclose the country of origin, job titles and salaries of all current H-1B employees.The freeze comes amid sweeping changes to the national immigration landscape spurred by President Trump’s America First movement, in turn driven by his MAGA base. Late last year, federal authorities introduced a sharply higher $100,000 fee for new H-1B petitions, a move that has already slowed applications.

The Texas order, following a similar move by Florida governor Ron DeSantis, goes further by shutting the door entirely — at least temporarily — for state entities.Abbott’s decision follows a furious campaign by Conservative activists, right-leaning media outlets and local leaders drumming up pressure on a governor who has led two trade missions to India (in 2018 and 2024) and has close ties with the Indian community in Texas. A Dallas newspaper recently published a series of investigations highlighting millions of dollars spent on H-1B sponsorships by the University of Texas and Texas A&M systems, and a local TV station ran an expose on sketchy H-1B visa operations, including Indian-led home-based staffing firms sponsoring workers without clearly defined work spaces. Among those who pressed for the crackdown, according to local reports, is the Indian-American chairman of the Texas Republican Party, Abraham George, a vocal Trump supporter who is said to have urged Abbott to consider a “Florida-like move” and has since welcomed the freeze. According to one community leader linked to the Texas university system, who acknowledged that reports of visa fraud was “true in part,” many mainstream Republicans, including Indian-Americans, are falling in line with MAGA demands to dismantle the whole H-1B program “because they don’t want to be known as RINOs” – Republicans in Name Only, an epithet used for more moderate leaders. Abbott himself has been attacked by MAGA hardliners for his India trips and communing with Indians during festivals like Diwali. During his two trade trips to India in 2018 and 2024, Abbott met PM Modi and a host of ministers, state leaders, and business titans, including executives from major Indian firms like Adani Group, HCLTech, Wipro, and Infosys – all of whom have large operations in Texas – to promote the state as a destination for Indian foreign direct investment. “Texas remains the most popular destination for Indian foreign direct investment and jobs created in the entire United States, and I am confident this enduring bond...

will continue," he said after the 2024 mission led to a $1.4 billion Indian investment in the Lone Star State. But MAGA hardliners have pilloried the governor, accusing him of being a shill for India at a time Indians are being savaged on social media. Though the order targets institutions rather than individuals, critics say the rhetoric surrounding it has grown increasingly hostile. Recent comments by Aaron Reitz, a Republican candidate for attorney general, describing parts of Texas as “invaded” by Indian immigrants, and masked protests in Irving blaming visa holders for demographic change, have intensified concerns. A 90-foot bronze statue of Hanuman at the Ashtalakshmi temple in Sugarland, Texas, has drawn adverse commentary from the MAGA lot with xenophobic online attacks on the growing Indian population in Texas. As of now, Abbott’s order applies only to state-funded entities. The biggest impact will be felt at public universities and hospitals, including the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, the MD Anderson Cancer Center and the broader Texas Medical Center in Houston. These institutions rely on foreign-born researchers, physicians and specialists -- mainly from India -- in science, medicine and engineering. Critics of the measure say the policy risks worsening shortages in healthcare, advanced research and specialized teaching. State Representative Ramon Romero Jr. warned that it could “strain public services” and hurt Texans statewide. University leaders too caution that losing access to global talent could mean fewer federal research grants and slower innovation. Supporters of the freeze argue that canning H-1B completely will protect wages and jobs for Texans, forcing universities and hospitals to invest more aggressively in domestic talent pipelines.Private employers, however, are untouched. Texas is home to more than 50 Fortune 500 companies — including AT&T, Dell and Tesla — all of which employ H-1B workers and are expected to continue doing so.