Iowa's Governor Race Splits Over H-1B Hiring at Public Universities, a Step Texas and Florida Have Already Taken

Iowa’s race for governor has turned into a choice about whether the state’s public universities keep hiring foreign professionals on H-1B visas. Republican Zach Lahn wants to end H-1B use at public universities and in state government, while Democrat Rob Sand says Iowa should not shut out workers from other countries, the two candidates said at their second debate this week, according to the Gray Media Iowa State Capitol Bureau. No governor can rewrite the federal H-1B program, but Texas and Florida have already shown that a state can stop its own institutions from using it, and by one lawmaker’s count Iowa’s public universities employ more than 400 people on the visa.

The election is Nov. 3. If Lahn wins, Iowa would likely become the third state in a year to close or narrow the H-1B door at its public campuses.

The state is the employer, and that is where its power lies

Federal law decides who qualifies for an H-1B, but only an employer can file the petition, and when the employer is a state university, the state decides whether to file at all.

In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott directed state agencies and public universities in January to freeze new H-1B petitions unless the Texas Workforce Commission approves an exception in writing, with the freeze running into 2027 and current visa holders unaffected, The PIE News and Newsweek reported. In Florida, the university system’s Board of Governors approved in March a pause on hiring new faculty through the H-1B program until Jan. 5, 2027, leaving renewals untouched and allowing exceptions for critical shortages, WFSU reported.

Lahn has not said which route he would take. He raised it in a May primary debate, when Iowa Public Radio quoted him saying, “Iowa people will do these jobs.” Iowa’s three public universities answer to the Board of Regents, whose members the governor appoints subject to Senate confirmation, so a Florida-style Regents policy, a Texas-style directive or new legislation would all be available. The practical effect would turn on one detail neither candidate has addressed: whether a ban stops only new petitions or also extensions for people already on staff. Texas and Florida both spared renewals. A policy that did not would push current employees to find another employer or leave the country.

How many Iowa jobs are involved

During House debate in March, Rep. Timi Brown-Powers, D-Waterloo, said the University of Iowa had more than 300 H-1B students and educators, Iowa State 108 and the University of Northern Iowa 16, Iowa Capital Dispatch reported. A narrower Board of Regents count in February found 117 employees from countries the federal government designates as foreign adversaries: 69 at Iowa, 42 at Iowa State and six at Northern Iowa, 104 of them from China, according to The Gazette.

Those numbers sit in the same range as the states that have already acted. Florida’s public universities employed more than 600 H-1B holders in the last fiscal year, 253 of them at the University of Florida, WFSU reported, while UT Southwestern Medical Center (220) and Texas A&M (210) led Texas higher education, The PIE News reported from USCIS data.

The Regents produced that count while lawmakers weighed a partial version. House File 2513, which passed the House on March 3, would bar universities from hiring H-1B workers from those countries plus Syria, and an amendment extended it to community colleges and private institutions. The bill stalled on the Senate’s unfinished business calendar, The Gazette reported, and its opponents worry it could return in 2027. The Regents registered as undecided, and their lobbyist warned the bill could run into civil rights law barring national-origin discrimination.

Two arguments, and what a ban would hit first

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Skyler Wheeler, R-Hull, framed the issue as “our universities are for Americans and Americans first.” Brown-Powers countered that she had “not seen any abuse in the state of Iowa,” Iowa Capital Dispatch reported. Sand’s position in the debate was economic: Iowa needs more workers to keep growing.

The first effects of any ban would likely fall on academic medicine and research. Universities are exempt from the annual H-1B cap, which is why they can hire postdoctoral researchers and physicians at any point in the year without the lottery. An anesthesiologists’ group warned lawmakers that the foreign-adversary bill could reach University of Iowa Health Care, according to The Gazette. For foreign academics weighing offers in Iowa, the clearer signal arrives on Nov. 3; any action would follow after the new governor takes office in January.

This article is for general information and is not legal advice.

Sources

Vasanth Vaidyanathan, Esq.

Administrator

Vasanth Vaidyanathan is an immigration attorney with over 20 years of experience focused exclusively on U.S. immigration and nationality law. He holds a LL.M. from California Western School of Law, San Deigo and advises individuals and businesses on employment and family-based immigration matters, including H-1B, PERM, EB categories, and adjustment of status. He has also been a featured speaker at immigration seminars across the U.S. To reach Vasanth visit: https://www.vnathan.com/

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