Florida governor Ron DeSantis reminded everyone why he is one of the staunchest defender of America First principles with a bombshell announcement that the state’s university system would be effectively cut off from employing H1B visa workers and forced to hire from the state’s vast citizen population.
For context, DeSantis has both spoken on the issue in recent weeks and his office released an explanatory statement on October 29th of 2025 decrying the use of foreign-born workers – as well as in recent times decrying the general practice of importing millions of immigrants to the country – as he continues to emphasize America First policies.
“Universities across the country are importing foreign workers on H-1B visas instead of hiring Americans who are qualified and available to do the job,” DeSantis said in the statement released in late October. “We will not tolerate H-1B abuse in Florida institutions. That’s why I have directed the Florida Board of Governors to end this practice.”
The statement continued, providing an overview of the situation on Florida university campuses. “Florida is requiring institutions to put American graduates first and ensure taxpayer-funded schools serve the American workforce, not to be used to import cheap foreign labor,” it read. “H-1B visas are allegedly intended to hire individuals for a specialty occupation, but many universities and institutions have hired foreign workers for jobs that could easily be filled by qualified Americans. Universities are exempt from federal H-1B caps, enabling year-round hiring of foreign labor.”
And in a speech related to the same topic, the former presidential candidate announced the move to a room full of reporters. “I am directing today the Florida Board of Governors to pull the plug on the use of these H1B visas in our universities. We can do it with our residents in Florida or with Americans. And if we can’t do it, then, man, we need to really look deeply about what is going on with this situation,” he stated.
Providing more context, the Chief Content Officer of Florida Voice News, Eric Daugherty, captioned the clip with DeSantis’ words by saying recent audits to university hiring practices uncovered Chinese students potentially influencing policy decisions on state-run campuses. “DeSantis exposed that H-1B AUDITS found colleges were bringing in Chinese people on visas to talk to students about “public policy,” among other issues. “Why do we need to bring someone from CHINA to talk about public policy?!”
Watch DeSantis lay out his position below:
The national conversation around H1B visas has picked up increasing momentum since Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election. Famously, former candidate and seeming DOGE accomplice to Elon Musk – Vivek Ramaswamy – was pushed out after defending the use of immigrant labor prior to Trump’s second inauguration.
Around the same time as DeSantis made big changes in the way Florida’s university systems run, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene announced the introduction of a bill meant to eliminate all H1B visas across the United States.
In a post to social media, she recapped a brief Fox News segment that revealed “70% of H1B visas go to India” while “10–15% go to China.” Moreover, the reference included a staggering figure that “80% [of H1B visas] are ENTRY-LEVEL jobs” that she said belong to Americans.
“I’m introducing a bill to eliminate H1B visas to make sure American workers come FIRST again,” Green wrote on X. “America has the most talented people in the world, and I will ALWAYS fight for them!”
Watch Greene introduce her bill below: