Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he wants to \u201cpull the plug\u201d on H-1B visas at state universities, arguing the program meant to recruit top talent wrongly takes jobs away from Floridians. Almost 400 employees from foreign countries currently work at Florida public universities under that visa program, according to data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.<\/p>\n
DeSantis, speaking at the University of South Florida, said he plans to direct the state\u2019s higher education board to end the use of the visas. \u201cWe need to make sure our citizens here in Florida are first in line for these job opportunities,\u201d DeSantis said. It\u2019s unclear how the state would take the action DeSantis wants, however. Individual states do not have the authority to revoke visas, and it is illegal to fire employees on the basis of immigration status, according to the federal immigration agency.<\/p>\n
The H-1B program allows companies and institutions to bring in educated foreign professionals for \u201cspecialty\u201d occupations that are hard to fill with U.S. workers. These workers must have bachelor\u2019s degrees. Amazon is the biggest user of the program nationwide, employing more than 10,000 such workers this year, federal immigration data shows. A consultant company, PWC Advisory Services, is the biggest user in Florida, with more than 640 employers on H-1B visas.
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\nThe program, which involves more than 7,200 people in Florida, most employed at private companies, has divided supporters of the Trump administration, with some like Elon Musk saying they are vital for America\u2019s economic success and others, like DeSantis, complaining they allow companies to outsource jobs to lower-paid foreigners.<\/p>\n
In September, President Donald Trump announced an increase in fees for H-1B visas from $215 to $100,000. That fee is typically paid by employers. Trump also signed a proclamation saying there had been \u201csystematic abuse\u201d of the program. Trump\u2019s decision, expected to face a legal challenge, means employers have to pay the new $100,000 fee for H-1B petitions filed after Sept. 21, so it could curtail the program, but it does not impact visa holders already working in the United States.<\/p>\n
DeSantis listed several positions filled by H-1B visa holders at state universities, including those from China, Argentina and Canada, and said they \u201ccheap labor\u201d taking opportunities from qualified Floridians. He did not specify which universities had hired these employees. The University of Florida is among the state\u2019s leading users of the H-1B program with more than 150 staff on those visas, according to federal immigration data. Other universities aren\u2019t far behind, with 72 at USF, 69 at Florida State University, 28 at the University of Central Florida and 13 at Florida Atlantic University.<\/p>\n
University staff on H-1B visas are largely in computer science, engineering, physics and chemistry departments, professors say, fields relatively few Americans pursue. In 2023, for example, about 60% of those who earned Ph.Ds in computer science from U.S. universities were temporary visa holders, not citizens or permanent residents, according to the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. Robert Cassanello, the president of the United Faculty of Florida and a UCF history professor, criticized DeSantis for emphasizing merit-based hiring at universities but then not supporting the H-1B program.<\/p>\n
Cassanello said its not that universities don\u2019t want to hire American applicants for positions, rather that many times there aren\u2019t enough qualified applicants, especially for science and math positions. And many times, the best applicants come from other countries, he said. \u201cDeSantis is speaking out of both sides his mouth \u2026 He is actively trying to remove any and all autonomy of governing our public colleges and universities from the people who run them day to day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The H-1B visa program has been a topic of controversy in recent years, with some arguing that it allows companies to outsource jobs to lower-paid foreigners, while others see it as a vital tool for recruiting top talent. DeSantis’ plan to end the use of H-1B visas at state universities has been met with criticism from university staff, who argue that it will harm the state’s economy and limit the ability of universities to attract top talent.<\/p>\n
Q: What is the H-1B visa program?
\nA: The H-1B program allows companies and institutions to bring in educated foreign professionals for \u201cspecialty\u201d occupations that are hard to fill with U.S. workers.
\nQ: How many employees from foreign countries currently work at Florida public universities under the H-1B visa program?
\nA: Almost 400 employees from foreign countries currently work at Florida public universities under that visa program.
\nQ: What is DeSantis’ plan regarding H-1B visas?
\nA: DeSantis plans to direct the state\u2019s higher education board to end the use of the visas.
\nQ: How will the recent changes to the H-1B program affect employers?
\nA: Employers will have to pay a new $100,000 fee for H-1B petitions filed after Sept. 21.
\nQ: What is the response of university staff to DeSantis’ plan?
\nA: University staff have criticized DeSantis’ plan, arguing that it will harm the state’s economy and limit the ability of universities to attract top talent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Introduction to the H-1B Visa Program Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he wants to \u201cpull the plug\u201d on H-1B visas at state universities, arguing the program meant to recruit top talent wrongly takes jobs away from Floridians. Almost 400 employees from foreign countries currently work at Florida public universities under that visa program, according to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":21804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-21802","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.sun-sentinel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/tfl-z-getty-desantis-ken-griffin-0925-02-1.jpg?w=1400px&strip=all&w=1400&resize=1400,933&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21802"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21802"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21805,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21802\/revisions\/21805"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}