Gov. Abbott’s H-1B Freeze Endangers Texas’s Future

January 27, 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Brian L. Evans, President of the Texas Conference of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), affiliated with the Texas American Federation of Teachers (AFT), [email protected], 512-516-5991

This press release is also available on Texas AAUP's website

Gov. Abbott's H-1B decision threatens innovation, economic growth, and student experience at Texas public universities

Governor Abbott seeks political points at the expense of Texas's future

AUSTIN, Texas - Today, Governor Greg Abbott announced a freeze on H-1B visa applications at Texas public universities and state agencies. Texas AAUP-AFT is a faculty-led group defending professors' rights to teach, research, and speak freely. With today's announcement, professors have deep concerns about the ability of Texas to compete globally in key fields like science, technology, engineering, and medicine. Organizations receiving H-1B worker visas for their employees are generally in the private sector in high tech and finance. The Texas institution of higher education with the most H-1B visas is UT Southwestern Medical Center, per federal data.

"Regardless of background, Texas professors drive innovation and prepare the next generation of leaders to join the workforce. Messing with the H-1B system was a bad idea when President Trump first tried it. It's even more reckless when it's a governor undermining his own state's workforce," said Dr. Brian Evans, president of Texas AAUP-AFT. "Governor Abbott's order will hurt the student experience and diminish the value of teaching and research at Texas institutions of higher education. Nowhere will that impact be more pronounced than our world class university medical centers. Patients don't care where their doctors and nurses are from, as long as they're getting the best possible care. Texas needs its public universities to continue being the economic engines driving the state, not mere vehicles for Governor Abbott's political agenda."

National AAUP previously sued to stop the Trump Administration's attempt to impose a $100,000 fee on international workers through the H-1B system. That litigation remains ongoing.

The Texas Conference of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), affiliated with the Texas American Federation of Teachers (AFT), has 2,500 members on 100 campuses across the state. We are a faculty-led union defending the right to teach, research, and speak freely. More info .