‘Pull the plug’: DeSantis tells state universities to hire Floridians over H-1B workers

Gov. Ron DeSantis is instructing Florida’s state university system to “pull the plug” on H-1B visas.

DeSantis, in a news conference Wednesday at the University of South Florida’s Tampa campus, called the temporary visas for specialty occupation workers disappointing “cheap labor.”

Many Florida universities employ H-1B visa holders in a variety of academic departments. DeSantis said state universities need to ensure Florida citizens are first in line for job opportunities.

It’s unclear whether DeSantis’ crackdown on H-1B visa holders would involve prohibiting some or all future applicants or firing current employees who have the visas. Federal law prohibits firing on the basis of immigration status, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The governor’s announcement came amid an evaluation by the state’s Department of Government Efficiency of Florida universities’ spending and policies.

Ben Watkins, the state’s Division of Bond Finance director, said the full DOGE-style review will be presented to the Board of Governors, which oversees Florida’s state university system, next week.

From last October to June, the University of Florida employed 156 H-1B visa holders. The University of Miami employed 90. The University of South Florida employed 72, and Florida State University employed 69. Florida International University employed 13.

President Donald Trump signed a proclamation in September requiring a $100,000 fee for new H-1B applicants.

DeSantis said Florida universities typically aren’t bringing in “Einsteins” from other countries. He gave examples of H-1B recipients from across the world employed at Florida universities.

“Why aren’t we producing math and engineering folks who can do this?” DeSantis said. “We’ve got hundreds of thousands of people in our state university system.”

Donald Landry, UF’s interim president, said during the news conference that the university will embrace DeSantis’ review of H-1B visas. The visa process is not handled in a “pristine” fashion, he said.

“Occasionally, some bright light might be good enough for the faculty, and then we will try and retain the person into whom we’ve invested so much,” Landry said. “But that’s the exception that proves the rule.”

Lucy Marques is a reporter covering education as a member of the Tampa Bay Times Education Hub in partnership with Open Campus. You can contribute to the hub through the Times’ journalism fund by clicking here.

This story was originally published October 29, 2025 at 1:42 PM.