Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says he’s done waiting on universities to change themselves.
At a Wednesday news conference carried by News4JAX, DeSantis directed the Florida Board of Governors to “pull the plug” on H-1B hiring across public universities, arguing the system has been abused and that Florida graduates should come first.
DeSantis framed the order as a straightforward correction.
In his telling, H-1B visas were sold to the public as a narrow pipeline for rare, specialized skills – but have morphed into a discount labor channel that displaces Americans.
From “Specialized Knowledge” to Discount Labor
DeSantis told reporters that the promise behind H-1B – “specialized knowledge” Americans supposedly lack – has been “a total scam” in practice.
He alleged tech firms fire U.S. workers and then refill positions with H-1B hires at lower pay, characterizing many visa holders as “indentured servants” tied to sponsoring employers.
The governor said the same pattern shows up inside Florida’s public universities.
If any institution can grow its own talent, he argued, it should be the state’s higher-ed system itself.
The Audit That Sparked a Crackdown
DeSantis said his team reviewed DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) audits of public universities and found roles he believes obviously shouldn’t require H-1B workers.
He rattled off examples: a computer application coordinator from China, an assistant swim coach from Spain, an athletic department graphic designer from Canada, and a manager of marketing and communications from Albania.
He also cited more technical and faculty posts – assistant professors of data science, computer science, environmental engineering, and math – often from China or Russia.
“Why aren’t we producing math and engineering folks who can do this?” DeSantis asked, suggesting the system has defaulted to convenience over mission.
The list went beyond STEM.
DeSantis questioned positions like a public policy professor “from China,” a psychologist and counselor from the United Kingdom, a bioanalytical core director from Poland, and a coastal research specialist from China, contending none of these should be beyond the capability of domestic hiring.
Universities, Meet the New Hiring Rule
The directive, as DeSantis described it, is blunt: public universities should stop using H-1B visas for hiring.
He told the Board of Governors to end the practice and staff roles with Florida residents or other Americans.
He acknowledged that some needs are truly specialized.
But he argued even those cases should be rare – and that universities, above anyone else, should explain why Florida can’t train for them.
DeSantis underscored that the H-1B route isn’t intended for “Einstein-level” talent anyway.
If a university truly needs a globally renowned figure, he said, that’s an O-visa case – not an H-1B.
The Rationale: Layoffs, Mission, and Money
The governor linked his move to broader labor trends.
He pointed to recent layoff headlines at companies like Amazon and UPS, arguing it’s wrong to tap H-1B slots while Americans are out of work.
He also cast the crackdown as a culture reset. “Some of this stuff is muscle memory,” DeSantis said, suggesting universities fell into an H-1B habit rather than building local pipelines.
Finally, there’s the money.
DeSantis reminded reporters that Florida has poured record funding into its state universities to keep tuition among the lowest in the country. If taxpayers are investing heavily, he implied, the system should invest back by hiring locally.
This Is About Control, Not Just Costs
There’s a practical read and a political read here – and both matter.
Practically, DeSantis is pushing universities to align hiring with their mission: train Floridians, then hire them. That’s coherent, and his audit examples will resonate with taxpayers who wonder why a public campus needs an H-1B for a graphics role.
Politically, it’s also about control.
DeSantis has spent years reshaping Florida higher ed, from DEI bans to governance changes. Targeting H-1B policies continues that trend—reining in a set of decisions universities traditionally make with wide discretion.
It’s also a signal to national voters.
In a year when the White House has moved to raise H-1B costs and re-rank how visas are allotted, DeSantis is saying states can do more than complain: they can set their own house rules.
Where This Collides With Reality
Universities will argue back. They’ll say faculty and staff markets are national – and global – and that some roles are hard to fill quickly with only local candidates.
In research, speed can matter. Milliseconds count in lab discovery, grant deadlines, and standing up new programs. Hiring constraints could slow those timelines or reduce competitiveness for grants.
There’s also the compliance maze.
Federal immigration law governs who may work; states govern who public institutions may hire. Florida can ban H-1B use in its system, but it can’t change federal visa rules.
That split invites friction – and likely litigation if a candidate claims discriminatory exclusion based on visa category.
The “Cheap Labor” Charge Will Dominate
DeSantis’s most potent claim is the “cheap labor” critique. He painted a picture of quiet recruitment tactics – like burying job ads in print classifieds – designed to satisfy paperwork while never seriously engaging U.S. applicants.
Whether every example fits that narrative or not, the line is sticky.
It suggests a loyalty test: you either value Florida graduates or you don’t. For a public university, that’s tough optics to fight.
If schools want to resist, they’ll need clear, specific cases that show true scarcity – roles where a U.S. candidate search really came up empty despite market-rate pay and broad outreach.
And they’ll need to show those roles translate into clear benefits for Florida students.
DEI Money, Repurposed Grants, and a Broader Reset
The H-1B announcement came bundled with a familiar DeSantis theme: scrubbing DEI.
He said the state has “repurposed or cancelled” more than $33 million in DEI-related grants at public universities, with another $10.6 million identified in the college system for repurposing or cancellation.
He held up a $1.3 million project on “inclusive and communal classroom cultures” as an example of what he calls “political slop.”
Florida, he said, is sending that money back or steering it toward core priorities.
The message is consistent: fewer ideological programs, more performance and basics.
In DeSantis’s frame, cutting H-1B dependence and cutting DEI are both about refocusing the mission.
What Happens Next on Campus
Expect the Board of Governors to hard-code the directive into hiring policy. That likely means any exceptions will require high-level sign-offs, documented national searches, and proof of market-rate pay.
Departments will scramble to map renewals, contracts, and pending lines.
Some candidates will fall out of the pipeline; some offers may be re-written; some labs will lobby for waivers.
Athletics and admin shops will face the quickest fixes. Those non-research roles, the very examples DeSantis spotlighted, are the easiest places to swap to domestic hires fast.
What Happens Next in the Legislature
Don’t be surprised if lawmakers codify pieces of this.
Statutes that condition state funds on domestic-first hiring in public institutions would lock in the policy beyond one board vote.
There could also be new reporting rules.
Annual public dashboards of hiring by visa category would make slippage obvious and politically costly.
Universities will push for narrow carve-outs – think federally funded research centers with unique requirements.
But the center of gravity has shifted: the default is no H-1B in Florida’s public higher ed, unless you can prove the exception.
If Florida Builds the Pipeline, It Can Own the Win
If this is only a restriction, it will bite. If it’s paired with an aggressive talent-building push, it could work.
Florida can expand paid grad fellowships in AI, cybersecurity, power systems, and coastal science – exactly where DeSantis flagged H-1B hires.
It can fund industry-linked apprenticeships and speed hiring pathways that convert Florida students into full-time staff and junior faculty.
Do that, and the state will have receipts: fewer visa hires, more Florida hires, and programs that didn’t slow down.
Skip that investment, and bottlenecks will surface fast – and critics will say politics kneecapped performance.
Ron DeSantis has planted a flag: public universities should hire Americans first, and Florida has the talent to fill the jobs.
In his words, the Board of Governors will “pull the plug” on H-1B use across the system, ending what he calls an abuse of visas for roles that shouldn’t need them.
The move fits his larger higher-ed overhaul – cutting DEI, repurposing grants, and demanding a tighter link between taxpayer funding and taxpayer benefit.
Whether you cheer or jeer, the consequences will be visible: who gets hired, how fast programs move, and whether Florida can build the in-state pipeline it says it wants.
DeSantis has thrown down the gauntlet.
Now the universities have to show they can run with it.
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A former park ranger and wildlife conservationist, Lisa’s passion for survival started with her deep connection to nature. Raised on a small farm in northern Wisconsin, she learned how to grow her own food, raise livestock, and live off the land. Lisa is our dedicated Second Amendment news writer and also focuses on homesteading, natural remedies, and survival strategies. Lisa aims to help others live more sustainably and prepare for the unexpected.