Gov. Ron DeSantis directed Florida education officials to “pull the plug” on the use of H-1B visas for foreign workers at the state’s universities, arguing that such jobs should go to Americans.
At a news conference at the University of South Florida in Tampa on Wednesday, Mr. DeSantis rattled off a list of jobs at the state’s colleges that he said should be filled by Americans: public policy professor from China, graphic designer from Canada, assistant swim coach from Spain.
“Are you kidding me?” he said. “We can’t produce an assistant swim coach in this country?”
The details of the plan were not immediately clear, including whether it would apply to current visa holders, or for future applications. H-1B visas are provided to educated foreign citizens applying to work in specialty occupations.
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About 400 H-1B visa applications were approved for the state system’s 12 universities this year through June, with the most, 156, at the University of Florida, according to Department of Homeland Security data.
The governor’s comments are in line with the agenda of the Trump administration, which last month enacted a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visas.
If Florida’s university system embraces Mr. DeSantis’s proposal, it will be at odds with many higher education leaders, who have spent recent weeks publicly and privately lobbying the White House and Congress against Mr. Trump’s proclamation. They have argued that H-1B visa holders fill critical teaching and research roles.
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