Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered an immediate freeze on new H-1B visa petitions across all Texas state agencies and public universities, launching a statewide review into what his office described as potential misuse of the federal visa program.

In a letter issued on Tuesday to educational institutions and government bodies, Abbott said the decision was aimed at ensuring that jobs funded by Texas taxpayers are prioritized for local workers. “The economy of Texas should work for the benefit of Texas workers and Texas employers,” he wrote, announcing that all new H-1B petitions must be suspended pending further assessment.

Citing “recent reports of abuse in the federal H-1B visa program”, Abbott said the freeze would remain in place while both Texas officials and the federal government examine whether American jobs are being displaced. “I am directing all state agencies to immediately freeze new H-1B visa petitions as outlined in this letter,” he said.

The directive applies to all state agencies overseen by gubernatorial appointees, as well as public institutions of higher education, according to a media release. Under the order, no new H-1B petitions may be filed without written approval from the Texas Workforce Commission until the close of the Texas Legislature’s 90th Regular Session on 31 May 2027.

Abbott has also instructed agencies and universities to submit detailed reports by 27 March 2026. These must include the number of H-1B workers they sponsor, job classifications, countries of origin, and documentation demonstrating efforts to recruit qualified Texas candidates before turning to foreign labor.

The governor said the review would give lawmakers time to establish what he described as “statutory guardrails” for future hiring practices involving federal visa holders, while allowing the Trump administration to pursue broader immigration reforms.

The move follows remarks Abbott made during a Dallas-based radio interview a day earlier, in which he questioned the use of state funds to employ H-1B visa holders in public institutions. “We are examining the extent to which Texas taxpayer dollars are being used to pay for any of these people,” he said.

Questioning the necessity of foreign workers in public education, Abbott added: “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 fulfill here in our own public schools? I don’t see any reason why we need any H-1B visa employees in our public schools in the State of Texas.”

While acknowledging that the H-1B program is federally administered, Abbott said Texas was assessing its authority where state funding is involved. “This is a federal programme, only a federal programme. It’s not a state programme,” he said.

In his letter, Abbott referenced President Donald Trump’s proclamation restricting the entry of certain non-immigrant workers, arguing that the H-1B system was intended “to supplement the United States’ workforce, not to replace it”. He alleged that some employers had “failed to make good-faith efforts to recruit qualified US workers” before seeking overseas hires.

Rather than attracting “the best and brightest individuals from around the world”, Abbott wrote, the program had “too often been used to fill jobs that otherwise could, and should, have been filled by Texans”.

The H-1B visa program allows US employers to hire foreign workers in specialized roles that typically require advanced education or technical expertise. It is widely used by technology companies, hospitals and universities and has long been a flashpoint in national immigration debates.

Texas’s decision represents one of the most far-reaching state-level actions targeting H-1B usage within public institutions and comes amid renewed federal scrutiny of employment-based visas under the Trump administration.

(With IANS inputs)