Texas Governor Directs Freezing All H-1B Visa Petitions & Launches Investigation Into Visa Abuse
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered a statewide H-1B visa freeze in a detailed letter to the public universities and the state agencies. As is well known, the program allows all foreign-born workers and students to legally reside and work in the United States. The statewide suspension of the H-1B visa has caused worries to many, as this move is thought to obstruct medical research and PhD programs that tend to rely heavily on the visa program to attract talent.
Here, our EB-1A consultancy has outlined and discussed this news in great detail.
Everything you need to know about the Texas H-1B visa freeze
Texas Governor Abbott has explicitly directed all public universities and state agencies to freeze all new visa applications. In other words, these institutions have been barred from filing new visa petitions without further permission from the Texas Workforce Commission. The freeze will be in effect until May 2027.
In an elaborate letter directed to the agency heads, Governor Abbott hinted at H-1B visa misuse by certain institutions and the usurpation of jobs that should have rightfully belonged to Texans. He referenced President Trump’s proclamation, ‘Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers,’ and reiterated the crux of the ‘H-1B Program,’ which was created to supplement and not to replace the American workforce.
In the same letter, Governor Abbott articulated a strong defense of the Texas workforce. An overview of how he channeled policies to contribute to the overall strength of this workforce has supplemented his argument in the letter. According to the argument advanced in the letter, the Governor signed several pieces of legislation allocating significant investments into higher education systems and workforce services. He concluded that these investments had made Texas stand out as the best state in the nation to work. This is precisely why his argument emphasizes that Texans are proficient enough to fill the workplace vacuum.
Governor Abbott has also spoken at the Mark Davis radio show about the freezing in detail:
"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 fulfill here in our own public schools? I mean, those exactly are the types of questions that we’re looking at," he 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 gonna find out if there is some unique skillset or whatever the case may be. And again, we don’t know who these people are, how they were allowed in. We do know they were allotted by the federal government, but we don’t know why."
However, Governor Abbott won’t be the first person to inaugurate a statewide freeze on H-1B visas. Last year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also directed the State Public Universities to consider a pause on new visas until 2027. Abbott also justified the pause, saying it was intended to give the Texas Legislature considerable time to consider the statutory changes thoroughly.
Whether the pause is going to be permanent remains a suspense yet to be seen. Meanwhile, at GCEB1, our EB-1A experts are regularly analysing and commenting on all the latest developments in world immigration. Stay tuned to our blog section to get all the latest updates on international immigration.
Sources & Further Readings
- Office of the Texas Governor. “Governor Abbott Launches Investigation Into H-1B Visa Abuse” January 27, 2026.
- Abbott,Greg. “H-1B Visa Program Letter to State Agency Heads. January 27, 2026.
- Dial, Steven.“What Abbott’s H-1B Visa Freeze Means for Texas Agencies, Public Universities." FOX 4 News, January 28, 2026.
