Texas Governor Proposes Banning H-1B Visas in Public Schools

At a news conference on August 18, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that he would propose banning public-school districts from hiring employees through the federal H-1B visa program. Texas would become the first state to have such a ban, if enacted by the state Legislature when it convenes early next year.

Abbott, who vowed to eliminate “indoctrination in the classroom,” added, “Bottom line is this: foreign influence of any kind has no place in our classrooms.”

The next day, he formally requested Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Don Huffines to “undertake a review to determine whether independent school districts (ISDs) are appropriately spending their funds.” The request, which noted that Texas spends $104.9 billion annually on K-12 education, did not specifically mention H-1B visas, although they and other forms of “foreign influence” may be included in the review.

Texas is the state most reliant on H-1B visas for public education, with more than 340 visa holders employed, and Dallas Independent School District is the single most-reliant school district in the country.

Earlier this year, Abbott ordered state agencies and public universities to freeze new H-1B visa applications through mid-2027. The governor’s August 18 announcement appears to be an extension of this earlier action.

Intentional Economic Harm

The H-1B visa program, created by the Immigration Act of 1990, is one of many federal pro-open-borders programs that facilitate legal mass migration into the United States. Along with other programs such as the H-2A visa, it allows the federal government to artificially flood the workforce with cheap labor rather than allow the free market to regulate wages.

According to John Miano of the Center for Immigration Studies, “H-1B works exactly as Congress intended it to work”:

A broken program is one that fails to achieve its intended purpose.

But Congress deliberately eliminated the labor-shortage requirement. Congress chose not to require employers to recruit Americans first. Congress created a Labor Condition Application system that relies largely on employer self-certification. Congress has known for decades that American workers have been replaced by [H-1B] employees, yet it has never prohibited the practice broadly.

Congress has known for decades that employers have been replacing Americans with H-1B nonimmigrants. Congress’s response to this abusive behavior was to make the practice explicitly legal. No one should be surprised at an employer that lays off thousands of Americans while hiring thousands of H-1B nonimmigrants.

Compromising National Security

In addition to its economic harms, the H-1B visa program undermines national security. In an interview published in the May 28, 2007 issue of The New American, immigration activist Robert Sanchez noted that “H-1B and L-1 visas are a conduit for spying and espionage,” and few safeguards exist to prevent visa holders from overstaying.

On September 19, 2025, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation imposing restrictions on the H-1B visa program and the U.S. Department of Labor announced an enforcement initiative to prevent H-1B abuse. On August 24, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security proposed charging a $103,265 fee for individual visas, replacing an earlier, narrower proposal based on Trump’s 2025 proclamation that got struck down by a federal judge. Despite these efforts, however, Congress must go further by eliminating the H-1B program entirely.

Government Involvement in Education Is Unconstitutional

As for Texas, it must also go further than merely eliminating H-1B visas from its education system. Public education — which was virtually nonexistent before the late 1800s — is not a legitimate function of government. Accordingly, state governments must ultimately eliminate all involvement in education, including phasing out their public-school systems and replacing them with fully private education. Unfortunately, Texas moved in the opposite direction last year when it enacted an Education Savings Account bill, which massively expanded government involvement in education. State governments must return to their core purpose — “to secure [God-given] rights,” in the words of the Declaration of Independence — and a system of government in line with America’s founding principles.

As with virtually every other policy, following the U.S. Constitution and America’s founding principles is the solution.

This article is part of The New American’s weekly online newsletter Insider Report, which is emailed to TNA subscribers each week. Click here to subscribe to The New American to receive the Insider Report and access exclusive content.