H-1B revenge? Visa filings surge in Republican Texas amid MAGA protests

H-1B-related filings are rising sharply across several Republican-held congressional districts in the US state of Texas. This comes even as Texas has emerged as a centre of opposition to the work visa programme. Its governor, Greg Abbott, ordered state agencies and public universities to freeze new H-1B petitions and several Texas Republicans have backed measures to restrict or even eliminate the programme.

The H-1B visa programme is a temporary work visa that allows highly skilled foreign professionals to live and work in the US for a specified period. Indian professionals, particularly those working in the IT sector, dominate the programme. In FY2025, Indians accounted for 2.2 lakh of the 2.9 lakh H-1B visa extensions granted, or roughly 78% of all beneficiaries.

According to a report by the US-based news outlet, Newsweek, an analysis of federal labour data by the jobs and layoffs tracking platform, LayoffHedge, found that H-1B demand increased substantially in a number of Republican-held suburban districts of Texas between fiscal years 2019 and 2025, bucking a broader national decline.

The analysis examined 6.9 million Labour Condition Applications (LCAs), a mandatory filing employers must make with the US Department of Labour before submitting an H-1B petition.

Newsweek noted that LCAs are not equivalent to H-1B visas being issued or even to individual workers being hired. They are, however, an indicator of employers' demand for foreign skilled labour.

The LayoffHedge analysis cited by Newsweek found that eight of the fastest-growing congressional districts for H-1B demand during the period were represented by Texas Republicans. Ten of the 20 fastest-growing districts nationally were in Texas, while 15 of the top 20 were represented by Republicans.

The growth was particularly pronounced in some suburban districts. According to the figures cited by Newsweek, certified filings in Texas' 3rd Congressional District rose 242%, from 1,388 in FY2019 to 4,748 in FY2025. The neighbouring 26th District recorded a 217% increase, from 2,010 to 6,374 in the same time period,

The remaining Texas districts among the eight fastest-growing nationally also recorded significant increases. Filings rose 145% in the 31st District, 126% in the 10th, 69 percent in the 22nd, 58% in the 8th, 48% in the 21st and 47% in the 4th.

That surge stands out against what is happening in the rest of the US. Of the 243 congressional districts included in the LayoffHedge analysis, fewer than a quarter recorded an increase in filings between FY2019 and FY2025. The median Democratic-held district saw filings fall 30%, while 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 increase is particularly striking because Texas has simultaneously become a battleground for efforts to restrict and curb the H-1B programme.

Texas Governor Gregg Abbott had in January this year issued a directive ordering the state agencies and public universities to freeze the initiation and filing of new H-1B petitions. The directive, issued in January, keeps the restrictions in place through May 31, 2027, unless the Texas Workforce Commission grants written approval. The Texas governor's office separately confirmed that the freeze applies to state agencies and public institutions of higher education.

The contradiction is also visible among Texas' Republican congressional delegation. Newsweek identified Representatives Keith Self, Brandon Gill, Troy Nehls and Chip Roy, among others, as lawmakers representing districts where H-1B-related filings have grown sharply.

At the same time, Self and Gill have backed congressional efforts to restrict immigration and the H-1B programme. Self and Gill were among the Republican lawmakers who cosponsored the PAUSE Act of 2025, a bill introduced by Roy that sought to place broad limitations on the issuance of visas and immigration status until specified conditions were met.

Self also backed a House joint resolution seeking to overturn a Joe Biden-era rule governing H-1B requirements, according to congressional records.

Apart from Republican representatives, parts of Texas with large populations of Indian H-1B professionals and Indian-origin Americans have also become targets for far-right, MAGA-aligned influencers, who have 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 as the Trump administration has sought to overhaul the H-1B visa programme and make it more difficult for employers to hire foreign professionals.

The traditional H-1B lottery system has been replaced with a weighted system that favours higher-paid and more experienced workers.

The administration has also extended the scope of the 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee that has raised the cost of H-1B extensions, while moving to reduce the time period laid-off H-1B workers need to find new employment.

It had also sought to impose a 100,000 USD fee on new H-1B petitions, although courts blocked the measure.

Yet in Texas, a state where leading figures in the ruling Republican Party have increasingly called for the H-1B programme to be curtailed, if not scrapped altogether, demand for H-1B professionals is not merely high — it is rising, even as filings decline across much of the rest of the US.

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