UT submitted a report of all its employees on H-1B visas — which allow foreign professionals to work in the United States — to the Texas Workforce Commission on March 25.
In a January letter, Gov. Greg Abbott instructed all state agencies and institutions to provide the reports to the commission by March 27, detailing each employee’s country of origin and efforts to provide “qualified Texas candidates” with an opportunity for the position. The letter also asked the agencies to freeze all new H-1B visa issuances until the end of the next legislative session in May 2027, unless they receive written permission from the commission.
“At the direction of Governor Abbott, TWC is taking action to crack down on potential H-1B abuse and ensure employment opportunities are filled by Texans first,” a commission spokesperson wrote in an email.
The H-1B visa allows foreign workers whose jobs require a bachelor’s degree or an equivalent to stay in the U.S. for a three-year period that can later be extended, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. There are 280 H-1B visa holders at UT, according to a copy of UT’s report obtained by the Texan.
The report includes the dates when H-1B visas were issued and when they would expire. It also shows each person’s country of origin, nationality, salary and a job description, along with each person’s title and departmental affiliation. However, it does not include the names of any H-1B visa holders.
“A lot of this information is already tracked at the federal level,” immigration attorney Ruby Powers said. “It’s an attempt to have some type of say in this situation, but this is more of a federal matter.”
In the report, the commission asked the University if each position filled by an H-1B visa holder was posted on Work in Texas, an online job matching site run through the commission. In response, UT wrote that it is “not administratively feasible” to determine how each position was filled.
“UT Austin typically engages in open recruitment for almost all positions,” the report reads. “Targeted recruitment is used for specialized roles. Recruitment at UT Austin typically includes combinations of various job boards, sometimes including WIT, search firms, and other outreach.”
The commission also asked in the report for the number of non-H-1B visa holders who applied and were interviewed, which the University did not respond to. In its report to the commission, UT wrote, “it is impermissible to ask applicants about their citizenship, nationality, or immigration status and this information is not collected about applicants.”
“The process is a lot more complicated than hiring a U.S. worker, but the reason why the (H-1B) program exists is to help fill the gap in the labor market that’s not being met,” Powers said.
Viranga Perera, an assistant professor of instruction in the Department of Physics, is an H-1B visa holder included in the report. He said he has always been passionate about science education and has been teaching at UT since 2022.
“I didn’t just sign up to do a job,” Perera said. “This is something I’ve been doing for a long time. This is something that I care about.”
