Texas Gov. Greg Abbott halts new H-1B visa petitions at state agencies and universities

Gov. Greg Abbott ordered Texas universities and state agencies on Tuesday to halt new H-1B visa petitions, which are used by employers to hire foreign workers with specialized skills, until next year.

The pause in the red state, which is home to thousands of H-1B visa holders, comes amid actions by the Trump administration aimed at reshaping the visa program. Critics argue that it has become a pipeline for overseas workers willing to work for lower pay and is taking job opportunities from Americans. But supporters say the program is crucial to attract top global talent, fill specialized roles and drive innovation.

“State government must lead by example and ensure that employment opportunities — particularly those funded with taxpayer dollars — are filled by Texans first,” Abbott wrote in his letter.

But proponents of the program argue that it is beneficial to the state, and that any pause could worsen existing staffing shortages and hinder universities’ ability to recruit talent.

“Freezing those pathways makes it harder to staff classrooms, research centers, and hospitals across our state, raising costs, straining public services, and hurting Texans in every corner of our state,” Rep. Ramon Romero Jr., Democrat and chairman of Texas Mexican American Legislative Caucus, said in a written statement.

The pause in Texas, which only applies to state agencies and public universities, is scheduled to last until May 31, 2027. Abbott's order does allow exceptions if permission is granted from the Texas Workforce Commission.

Abbott said the freeze will give lawmakers time to “establish statutory guardrails" for employment under the visa program, allow Congress to modify federal law and allow program reforms by the Trump administration to be implemented.

Currently, the public university in the state with the most H-1B visas is the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas with 228 visa holders, based on data reported by the U.S. Citizen & Immigration Services in September. The university employees more than 23,000 people, according to their website. University staff did not immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press seeking comment on the pause.

Other institutions with H-1B visa holders include: the Texas A&M University in College Station with 214; the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston with 171; the University of Texas at Austin with 169; and Texas Tech University in Lubbock with 143.

While there is a wide range of employers who can apply for HB-1 visas — including hospitals, bands and universities — at least 60% of the H-1B visas approved since 2012 have been for computer-related jobs, according to the Pew Research Center.

Last year across the country, Amazon was by far the top recipient, with more than 10,000 visas approved, followed by Mumbai-based informational technology company Tata Consultancy Services, Microsoft, Apple and Google. In Texas, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation — a multinational information technology company — has the most H-1B visas in the state with 3,172.

Abbott, who along with Republicans alleges that the visas are being abused, plans to review the program's use. As such, he ordered agencies and universities to provide information on the number of new or renewed H-1B visa petitions last year, visa holders currently sponsored, job titles, countries of origin and visa expiration dates. The Republican also asked for documentation showing employers made an effort to give "qualified Texans candidates with reasonable opportunity to apply” for positions filled by H-1B holders.

Across the aisle, Romero argues that H-1B visa holders are “Texans in every way that matters” -- saying that they are professionals who “work hard, follow the rules and contribute to our economy.”

Abbott is not the only GOP governor taking action. Last year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called for fewer H-1B hires, alleging abuse of the program to fill nonspecialized roles. On Thursday, the Board of Governors, which oversees the Florida's public university system, is scheduled to discuss pausing the use of H-1B program to hire new personnel until next year.

President Donald Trump signed a proclamation last year imposing a $100,000 annual H-1B visa fee on highly skilled workers, which is being challenged in court.

Created by the 1990 Immigration Act, H-1B visas allow American companies to bring in people with technical skills that are hard to find in the U.S. The visas are good for three years and can be extended another three years.

The number of new visas issued annually is capped at 65,000, plus an additional 20,000 for people with a master’s degree or higher. Some employers, such as universities and nonprofits, are exempt from the limits.

FILE - Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks to the media at the Texas Capitol in Austin, Texas, Aug. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

Mississippi officials said they were sending 135 snowplows Wednesday to clear ice and snow from two interstate highways where frozen conditions caused huge traffic jams.

Emergency officials said they were rushing supplies to drivers stalled along ice-covered stretches of Interstates 55 and 22 in northern Mississippi, an area still reeling from a weekend winter storm that blasted parts of the South and the Northeast with ice and snow.

Helping stranded drivers and moving stalled vehicles “remains a top priority,“ Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said in a social media post. The Mississippi National Guard said citizen-soldiers equipped with wreckers began arriving before dawn to help clear I-55 and I-22.

Traffic remained snarled on the two interstates in northern Mississippi at mid-day Wednesday, many hours after problems began when plunging temperatures Tuesday night caused the highways to refreeze. Roadside cameras operated by the Mississippi Department of Transportation showed semitrucks and pickups bumper-to-bumper on stretches of I-22 lined with snow.

The Mississippi National Guard said citizen-soldiers equipped with wreckers began arriving before dawn to help clear I-55 and I-22.

In the small community of Red Banks, Mississippi, local authorities were asking people with all-terrain vehicles to bring water, food, blankets or gas to stranded motorists, said Lacey Clancy, who works at a cafe near I-22 and neighboring Highway 178.

Clancy said sheets of ice covered the highways and cars and trucks sat idle, covering the highways and backing up along on ramps and exit ramps.

“The highway kind of looks like a parking lot," Clancy said in a phone interview. “A lot of people have run out of gas, abandoned their vehicles.”

Most of the eastern U.S. was still grappling with frigid weather days after a weekend storm blasted the Northeast and parts of the South with snow and ice.

More than 380,000 homes and businesses, most of them in Mississippi and Tennessee, remained without electricity, according to the outage tracking website poweroutage.us. And at least 50 people had been reported dead in states afflicted by the dangerous cold.

The toll includes three Texas brothers — ages 6, 8 and 9 — who perished after falling through the frozen surface of a pond in Texas. Another child, a toddler, died at a Virginia hospital after being pulled from a frigid pond Monday, according to local police.

Temperatures in the Midwest and Northeast were forecast to remain well below freezing throughout the day Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Residents still shivering in the South were getting little relief. In Nashville, Tennessee, where nearly 100,000 power outages lingered early Wednesday, high temperatures were to rise just above freezing before plunging to 13 F (minus 10 C) overnight.

One Nashville hospital was seeing a spike in patients being treated for carbon monoxide poisoning as people without electricity turned to fuel-burning generators, stoves, gas heaters and fireplaces to warm their homes. At least 48 children exposed to the deadly gas had been treated since Saturday at the emergency department at Monroe Carrell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, spokesperson Jessica Pasley said.

Forecasters predicted even colder weather for much of the U.S. this weekend. A new blast of arctic air is expected Friday and Saturday from the northern Plains to the Southeast, where meteorologists say record cold could stretch as far as Miami.

The weather service said the prolonged freeze “could be the longest duration of cold in several decades.”

Forecasters said there is an increasing chance of heavy snow this weekend in the Carolinas and parts of Virginia, with more snowfall possible from Georgia to Maine.

Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Martin reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, and Sarah Brumfield in Washington contributed to this report.

A tree blocks the road days after an ice storm in Nashville, Tenn., on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Travis Loller)