Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican who is seeking a fourth term, called for a ban on H-1B visa holders teaching in Texas public schools. Abbott said on Tuesday: “In Texas, we don’t want our teachers to be holders of H1-B visas. Why? We have plenty of skilled teachers right here in Texas. Teachers should be Texans teaching Texans.”
Abbott added: “Bottom line is this: foreign influence of any kind has no place in our classrooms.”
[NOTE: Texas public schools have been active users of the H-1B visa system, especially for bilingual teachers, with Dallas being the largest sponsor among public school districts in the nation in recent years. The Lone Star State would become the first to pass such a ban. Abbott suggested that if it does pass, it could eventually be extended to state colleges and universities.]
In Texas, we don’t want our teachers to be holders of H1-B visas.
Why? We have plenty of skilled teachers right here in Texas.
Teachers should be Texans teaching Texans. pic.twitter.com/8kysVpgCSw
— Governor Hot Wheels (@GovHotWheels_TX) August 20, 2026
Former Texas teacher-turned-immigration attorney Emily Neumann replied to Abbott: “Hi, former Texas teacher here. I taught high school biology under an emergency teaching certificate because Texas does not have ‘plenty of skilled teachers’ waiting to fill our classrooms. The number of H-1B workers teaching in Texas public schools is minuscule. They are not displacing Texas teachers. They are helping schools fill positions they otherwise struggle to staff. Texas students need qualified teachers in their classrooms. Turning away teachers willing and able to do the job just makes an existing teacher shortage worse.”
[NOTE: The Houston Chronicle reported that there are 340 H-1B visa holders teaching across Texas, roughly 0.11% of the state’s total public school teaching workforce of over 320,000.]
Abbott faces Democratic state representative Gina Hinojosa in the November election. Regarding Abbott’s “dangerous slight-of-hand [sic] with H-1B visas,” Hinojosa said “meanwhile, corporations face no such restrictions.”
She wrote in a statement: “As of 2024, Oracle and Tesla were by far the biggest users of H-1B visas in Austin, employing thousands of workers under the program — dwarfing the numbers at universities and state agencies. Both Oracle and Tesla have been granted property tax breaks under legislation that Greg Abbott championed and signed.”
Hinojosa added: “Greg Abbott is a master of misdirection. He goes after cancer researchers and professors in our public institutions, while signing legislation that allows corporate users to obtain property tax breaks while hiring thousands of H-1B workers.”