DeSantis wants Florida universities to 'pull the plug' on H-1B staff from foreign countries

Steven Walker, Orlando Sentinel on Oct 29, 2025

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he wants to “pull the plug” 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.

DeSantis, speaking at the University of South Florida, said he plans to direct the state’s higher education board to end the use of the visas.

“We need to make sure our citizens here in Florida are first in line for these job opportunities,” DeSantis said.

It’s 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.

The governor’s office did not immediately respond to follow up questions after DeSantis’ announcement.

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 “systematic abuse” of the program.

Trump’s 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 but does not impact visa holders already working in the United States.

The H-1B program allows companies and institutions to bring in educated foreign professionals for “specialty” occupations that are hard to fill with U.S. workers.

The 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’s economic success and others, like DeSantis, complaining they allow companies to out source jobs to lower-paid foreigners.

The governor listed several positions filled by H-1B visa holders, including those from China, Argentina and Canada and said they were taking opportunities from qualified Floridians in exchange for “cheap labor.”

The University of Florida is among the state’s leading users of the H-1B program with more than 150 staff on those visas, according to an Orlando Sentinel analysis of federal immigration data. Other universities aren’t far behind, with 72 at the University of South Florida, 69 at Florida State University, 28 at the University of Central Florida and 13 at Florida Atlantic University.

University staff on H-1B visas are largely in computer science, engineering, physics and chemistry departments, professors say.

Robert Cassanello, the president of the United Faculty of Florida and a UCF history professor, was critical that DeSantis emphasizes merit-based hiring at universities but doesn’t support the H-1B program.

Cassanello said its not that universities don’t want to hire American applicants for positions, rather that many times there aren’t enough qualified applicants for science and math positions. And many times, the best applicants come from other countries, he said.

In 2023, about 60% of those who earned Ph.D. degrees 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.

“DeSantis is speaking out of both sides his mouth ... 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,” Cassanello said.

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