TAMPA, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis is once again taking aim at immigration and higher education — this time targeting the federal H-1B visa program and what he called “abuse” of the system by Florida universities.
Speaking in Tampa Wednesday, DeSantis directed the state’s Board of Governors to “pull the plug” on H-1B hiring across public universities, accusing institutions of relying on foreign workers instead of qualified Americans.
“I am directing today the Florida Board of Governors to pull the plug on the use of these H-1B visas in our universities,” DeSantis said. “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.”
The governor also announced that Florida’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has partnered with federal officials and state universities to cancel or repurpose more than $33 million in diversity, equity, and inclusion-related grants, calling them “waste and woke.”
According to the Governor’s Office, several projects were canceled for violating state or federal laws regarding race-based criteria, while others were rewritten to broaden eligibility to all students regardless of background. Examples included a $1.5 million grant on “anti-Black racism in civil engineering curriculum” and a $1.3 million program promoting inclusive physics classrooms.
DeSantis, who has repeatedly referred to the H-1B system as a “scam,” argues universities are exploiting visa loopholes to import “cheap foreign labor.” He said the visas are displacing American graduates as part of a broader “America First” stance he’s carried into his higher education and workforce policies.
But immigration attorney Renata Castro, with USA 4 ALL, said the governor’s claim doesn’t hold up. She told Capitol Reporter Forrest Saunders that H-1B workers’ must adhere to rules determined by the U.S. Department of Labor, not the employer. It often ends up costing schools and companies more, she says.
“Maybe what Ron DeSantis is really trying to tell us Floridians is that we need wage reform,” Castro said with a chuckle. “But it’s by no means cheap labor. A lot of times it becomes actually more expensive for the employer to hire someone on an H-1B because they cannot have their hours reduced, they are at risk of losing their visas if they're furloughed. There are a lot of strings attached in addition to the cost. This is not a free process.”
Castro warned that restricting the program could make it harder for Florida universities to recruit world-class professors and researchers, adding that many foreign-born educators and engineers fill shortages in critical fields.
The H-1B visa program allows U.S. employers to hire foreign professionals in specialty occupations such as science, technology, and education. Universities are exempt from annual federal caps, giving them flexibility to hire year-round. DeSantis’s directive now places the issue before Florida’s Board of Governors, which is expected to take up the matter at its next meeting.
