- James Fishback vows to eliminate H-1B visa use in Florida state agencies and contracts.
- The proposal includes a $200,000 annual fine for companies failing to prioritize American workers.
- The plan expands upon Governor DeSantis’s recent restrictions in higher education sectors.
(FLORIDA) – James Fishback, a 30-year-old investor, former Doge architect, and hedge fund founder, proposed ending H-1B visa use in Florida state agencies and state contracts if he wins the 2026 race for governor.
Fishback laid out the plan in a December 2, 2025, post on X. “As Florida Governor, I’ll fire every H-1B working at a state agency and cancel state contracts with companies that employ H-1Bs instead of qualified Floridians. I will incentivise companies to hire Americans again.”
His campaign also calls for forcing Florida companies to replace H-1B workers with Americans and imposing a $200,000 annual “fine” on firms that do not comply. Fishback said state agencies would levy “massive, massive fines” on contractors that keep using H-1B labor instead of hiring Floridians.
In an interview, Fishback said companies that rely on the visa program “are going to be hearing from me directly.” He said he was targeting employers that “unfairly advantage immigrants from India,” who receive most H-1B visas.
The proposal extends a line already taken by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who moved against H-1B hiring in higher education in October 2025. DeSantis directed public universities to “pull the plug” on H-1B visas through an executive order and said schools had misused the program, including for hires from China in teaching roles.
Florida’s Board of Governors followed with a formal policy on February 27, 2026. It barred public universities from making new H-1B hires through January 5, 2027, while leaving current H-1B employees in place.
As of last year, more than 500 foreigners worked at Florida public and private universities under H-1B. DeSantis also said Florida DOGE would work with Federal DOGE to crack down on H-1B abuse in higher education.
Fishback’s plan goes further than those university limits. He would extend the ban to state agencies and state contractors, pushing the issue from campuses into procurement, staffing, and vendor compliance across state government.
At the federal level, the pressure on H-1B employers also increased on September 19, 2025, when a Presidential Proclamation created a $100,000 H-1B fee. It applied to petitions filed after September 21, 2025, for workers abroad or workers who had fallen out of status for more than 45 days.
The proclamation described the charge as a “tariff on the importation of labor.” It said the policy aimed to curb abuse that harms U.S. economic and national security.
USCIS narrowed that fee’s reach in a clarification issued on October 21, 2025. The agency said the charge applies to initial petitions for workers coming from abroad, but not to extensions, change-of-status filings such as F-1 to H-1B, or transfers when a worker stays employed or remains unemployed for fewer than 45 days, inside the 60-day grace period.
That same day, September 19, 2025, also brought a separate enforcement push from the U.S. Department of Labor. It launched Project Firewall, aimed at H-1B compliance, prioritizing U.S. hires and auditing wage violations.
The H-1B system itself remains capped at 65,000 regular visas each year, plus 20,000 more for people with U.S. master’s degrees. Federal authorities select those petitions through a lottery, and recent registration changes were designed to reduce fraud.
Florida employers already face a tougher compliance climate under that system. USCIS has increased worksite audits, filing fees rose in 2024, and employers can face penalties for poor recordkeeping or misclassifying workers.
Multiple filings tied to a single beneficiary also carry risk. Employers that submit more than one petition for the same worker can face denials, adding another layer of scrutiny for companies that rely heavily on H-1B recruitment.
A prior Trump executive order also added a $100,000 application fee in certain cases. That cost, combined with newer restrictions, has added to the pressure on employers and universities weighing whether to sponsor foreign professionals.
Critics of the program argue the structure leaves workers vulnerable. Ryan Kennedy, a member of the Florida Board of Governors, said the visa can enable labor exploitation because workers fear deportation and cannot unionize.
Chuck Clemons, a University of Florida lobbyist, said universities already steer away from H-1B hiring because of the cost. That point matters in Florida’s debate because DeSantis and Fishback have presented the issue as both a labor and public spending question.
Fishback has tied the issue directly to the Republican primary field. He has attacked Representative Byron Donalds as an “H-1Byron” and accused him of serving corporate donors that benefit from the visa system.
His wider campaign platform reaches beyond immigration. Fishback also supports eliminating property taxes on homesteads and has hired a strategist from DeSantis’s orbit, linking his candidacy to the governor’s political network even as he tries to sharpen his own message.
The timing gives his proposal a ready-made backdrop. Florida has already tested restrictions in public universities, while Washington has raised fees and expanded enforcement, leaving employers with higher costs and less room for error.
Any move to fire H-1B workers in state agencies or cancel contracts over H-1B staffing would place Florida at the front edge of that fight. Fishback’s position turns a federal visa program into a state campaign issue, with H-1B workers, universities, contractors and state agencies all drawn into the same political contest.
