As the public sector of Texas remains beyond the sudden H-1B freeze announced by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, the impact on Indians is believed to be minimal. Though India is one of the countries receiving the highest number of H-1B visas, the concentration is mostly in the IT industry, which is not under the freeze ordered by Abbott. There is no available data showing how many H-1B Indians work in the Texas state departments, state universities, but it is believed to be fewer than the number of IT workers.
US immigration lawyer Emily Neumann said the H-1B freeze is "shooting ourselves in the foot" as the universities will now not get new H-1B professors, researchers and not many Americans are waiting in the wings to take up these roles. There will be a shortage of skilled professors in Texas state universities, teaching hospitals as there is no roadmap on how the posts will be fulfilled, Neumann said.
