H-1B-related filings are rising sharply throughout a number of Republican-held congressional districts within the US state of Texas. This comes whilst Texas has emerged as a centre of opposition to the work visa programme. Its governor, Greg Abbott, ordered state companies and public universities to freeze new H-1B petitions and a number of other Texas Republicans have backed measures to limit and even remove the programme.
The H-1B visa programme is a short lived work visa that enables extremely expert international professionals to dwell and work within the US for a specified interval. Indian professionals, significantly these working within the IT sector, dominate the programme. In FY2025, Indians accounted for two.2 lakh of the two.9 lakh H-1B visa extensions granted, or roughly 78% of all beneficiaries.
Based on a report by the US-based information outlet, Newsweek, an evaluation of federal labour knowledge by the roles and layoffs monitoring platform, LayoffHedge, discovered that H-1B demand elevated considerably in plenty of Republican-held suburban districts of Texas between fiscal years 2019 and 2025, bucking a broader nationwide decline.
The evaluation examined 6.9 million Labour Situation Purposes (LCAs), a compulsory submitting employers should make with the US Division of Labour earlier than submitting an H-1B petition.
Newsweek famous that LCAs should not equal to H-1B visas being issued and even to particular person staff being employed. They’re, nevertheless, an indicator of employers’ demand for international expert labour.
The LayoffHedge evaluation cited by Newsweek discovered that eight of the fastest-growing congressional districts for H-1B demand in the course of the interval have been represented by Texas Republicans. Ten of the 20 fastest-growing districts nationally have been in Texas, whereas 15 of the highest 20 have been represented by Republicans.
The expansion was significantly pronounced in some suburban districts. Based on the figures cited by Newsweek, licensed filings in Texas’ third Congressional District rose 242%, from 1,388 in FY2019 to 4,748 in FY2025. The neighbouring twenty sixth District recorded a 217% improve, from 2,010 to six,374 in the identical time interval,
The remaining Texas districts among the many eight fastest-growing nationally additionally recorded vital will increase. Filings rose 145% within the thirty first District, 126% within the tenth, 69 p.c within the twenty second, 58% within the eighth, 48% within the twenty first and 47% within the 4th.
That surge stands out towards what is occurring in the remainder of the US. Of the 243 congressional districts included within the LayoffHedge evaluation, fewer than 1 / 4 recorded a rise in filings between FY2019 and FY2025. The median Democratic-held district noticed filings fall 30%, whereas the median Republican-held district recorded an 18% decline.
RISE IN TEXAS H-1B FILINGS COME EVEN AS STATE REPUBLICANS RAIL AGAINST THE VISA
The rise is especially placing as a result of Texas has concurrently turn out to be a battleground for efforts to limit and curb the H-1B programme.
Texas Governor Gregg Abbott had in January this yr issued a directive ordering the state companies and public universities to freeze the initiation and filing of new H-1B petitions. The directive, issued in January, retains the restrictions in place by way of Might 31, 2027, until the Texas Workforce Fee grants written approval. The Texas governor’s workplace individually confirmed that the freeze applies to state companies and public establishments of upper training.
The contradiction can also be seen amongst Texas’ Republican congressional delegation. Newsweek recognized Representatives Keith Self, Brandon Gill, Troy Nehls and Chip Roy, amongst others, as lawmakers representing districts the place H-1B-related filings have grown sharply.
On the similar time, Self and Gill have backed congressional efforts to limit immigration and the H-1B programme. Self and Gill have been among the many Republican lawmakers who cosponsored the PAUSE Act of 2025, a invoice launched by Roy that sought to put broad limitations on the issuance of visas and immigration standing till specified circumstances have been met.
Self additionally backed a Home joint decision searching for to overturn a Joe Biden-era rule governing H-1B necessities, based on congressional information.
Aside from Republican representatives, components of Texas with giant populations of Indian H-1B professionals and Indian-origin People have additionally turn out to be targets for far-right, MAGA-aligned influencers, who’ve fuelled claims of an “Indian takeover” of the state and have repeatedly batted for the H-1B visa programme to be terminated.
All this comes because the Trump administration has sought to overtake the H-1B visa programme and make it tougher for employers to rent international professionals.
The standard H-1B lottery system has been changed with a weighted system that favours higher-paid and more experienced workers.
The administration has additionally prolonged the scope of the Sept. 11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Price that has raised the cost of H-1B extensions, whereas transferring to reduce the time period laid-off H-1B workers want to search out new employment.
It had additionally sought to impose a 100,000 USD price on new H-1B petitions, though courts blocked the measure.
But in Texas, a state the place main figures within the ruling Republican Occasion have more and more known as for the H-1B programme to be curtailed, if not scrapped altogether, demand for H-1B professionals isn’t merely excessive — it’s rising, whilst filings decline throughout a lot of the remainder of the US.
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