Texas has barred businesses that employ H-1B visa holders from receiving grants administered directly by the Texas Department of Agriculture, a move that could affect companies employing skilled Indian professionals in major metropolitan areas including Dallas–Fort Worth, Austin and Houston.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller announced the new eligibility requirements on Thursday, saying taxpayer-funded grants should prioritise local workers and support job opportunities for Texans. “Texas workers should come first. Period,” Miller said in a statement, according to Deccan Chronicle.
The policy applies only to grants administered directly by the Texas Department of Agriculture. It does not extend to programmes that the department manages on behalf of independent boards, commissions or other entities operating under separate rules. The changes also do not prevent Texas-based businesses from receiving federal grants or participating in state-funded loan programmes.
Miller said companies seeking public funding should demonstrate a commitment to the state’s workforce rather than depend on temporary foreign workers. He also argued that Texas had invested substantially in education, job training and workforce development, and that public money should create opportunities for workers trained in the state.
The announcement is significant for Texas’s technology and wider skilled-services economy, where Telugu-speaking immigrants form a prominent part of the immigrant population. Many Telugu professionals work in the state on H-1B visas, particularly in the large metropolitan areas of Dallas–Fort Worth, Austin and Houston. The available policy details, however, do not establish how many businesses or workers could be affected by the grant restriction.
Miller has urged Governor Greg Abbott and other statewide elected officials to introduce similar restrictions across state departments, grant programmes and economic development initiatives. He also called for greater transparency about businesses receiving public funds and a review of existing incentives.
The measure is not a direct ban on hiring H-1B workers. Instead, it links eligibility for a defined set of state agriculture grants to the employment practices of applicant businesses. Its immediate effect will therefore depend on which companies apply for grants administered directly by the agriculture department and how the new requirements are applied during the grant process.
The announcement adds a state-level dimension to continuing debates over the role of skilled immigrants in the Texas economy. For now, the restrictions remain limited to the department-administered grant programmes identified in the new eligibility requirements, while federal grants and state-funded loan programmes remain outside their scope.
