Overview
- Governor Greg Abbott announced the proposal during a campaign stop on Tuesday, calling for a law that would bar Texas public K-12 schools from employing H-1B visa holders.
- The plan would also prohibit schools from accepting gifts, contracts, or partnerships from foreign governments or entities as a way to limit outside influence on curriculum.
- H-1B is a federal temporary-worker visa used for specialized roles such as bilingual and special-education teachers, and several hundred current K-12 employees in Texas hold those visas with Dallas ISD the largest user.
- Any ban or new restrictions cannot take effect without the Texas Legislature passing statutes, so districts and universities have warned the proposal raises staffing and timing questions for schools that rely on H-1B hires.
- The move builds on Abbott’s January freeze on new H-1B petitions for state agencies and public universities and comes as the federal H-1B program faces tighter scrutiny at the national level.