THE MORNING RANT: Governor Abbott vs Texas State University: The Taxpayer-Funded School Is Determined to Staff a University P.R. Position with a Foreign H-1B

The H-1B issue has become a major issue, as Americans, especially conservative Americans, are fed up with employers bringing in non-citizens from foreign countries to displace American workers. The appeal of H-1B labor for those abusing it is usually for one of the following reasons:

1) It’s a form of chattel labor, in which the H-1B worker is paid less than American prevailing wages while being a de facto indentured servant, because he cannot go seek other employment.

2) A way for those of an anti-American bent to provide employment in the United States to preferred foreign demographics.

As to the 2nd reason, the rampant anti-Americanism at colleges is well-documented, so of course there are universities hiring non-Americans whenever they can. A taxpayer-funded university in the state of Texas, however, should not be one of those universities.

Texas State University just posted an H-1B petition for a Public Relations job paying $73k per year. Texas State is located in the beautiful Hill Country city of San Marcos, close to both Austin and San Antonio. But the school is arguing that there is not a single person in the entire United States who can do this job, much less someone among the 5 million residents of the nearby metro areas who wouldn’t even need to relocate.

By the way, Texas State offers a degree in Public Relations to a student body that is overwhelmingly Texan (over 90%), but by petitioning for the H-1B, the school is arguing that there is not a single Texan who graduated from Texas State that can do public relations for their alma mater.

After the H-1B issue started heating up last year, Governor Greg Abbott issued a directive in January 2026 prohibiting state agencies and universities from petitioning for new H-1B positions until May 31, 2027, thus putting a stop to H-1B hirings until the legislature meets again and can address the issue.

No state agency controlled by a gubernatorially appointed head or public institution of higher education shall, without the written permission of the Texas Workforce Commission, initiate or file any new petition to sponsor a nonimmigrant worker under the federal H-1B visa program until the end of the Texas Legislature’s 90th Regular Session on May 31, 2027.

But Texas State is so committed to not hiring a U.S. citizen for this position that it’s arguing the governor’s directive doesn’t apply, because this is not technically a new H-1B petition. The job is currently held by a non-citizen whose visa expires in 2027, and Texas State wants to renew the visa for this person. S/he never should have been hired in the first place, but in arguing that this person’s visa needs to be renewed, Texas State is also arguing that there are no U.S. citizens who can do this job:

“Texas State defends H-1B visa renewal after criticism from GOP lawmaker” [Austin American Statesman – 8/18/2026]

The San Marcos-based university drew criticism this week after officials posted an H-1B renewal notice for a staffer. That person’s visa will expire in 2027. The university asserted that the renewal was compliant with Abbott’s order, which applies only to new visas.

I rarely wish I were an elected official, but I would love to be governor of Texas right now. I would call Texas State University President Kelly Damphousse to my office and ask him which of these options he will pursue:

1) Fire the person responsible for filling this university P.R. position with an H-1B.
2) Resign.

If Damphousse refused to do either, I would then call the Chancellor of the Board of Regents to my office and give him similar options:

1) Immediately fire the President of Texas State.
2) Immediately get fired by me.

In taking a quick look at the resume of Kelly Damphousse, it turns out he is apparently not a U.S. citizen either. He’s a Canadian, for whom there is no record I could find of him forsaking his foreign allegiance to become a U.S. citizen. That might explain a lot about why Texas State is hostile to hiring U.S. citizens.

There is some good news resulting from Texas State’s defiance of the governor. Greg Abbot just announced that when the legislature convenes after the November elections, he will now demand that it pass legislation permanently banning H-1B employees in any state agency or public school, to include the elimination of existing H-1B positions.

Because Texas State is so obstinate in trying to protect one foreigner doing P.R. work at the school, every single H-1B position with a state of Texas paycheck is about to be replaced by a U.S. citizen.

Speaking of Texas institutions, blog favorite Monte Warden played the Opry again this past Saturday night, with conservative superstar Mollie Hemingway providing backup vocals.

There is no correlation of course, but since The Federalist and I started covering the Warden family’s legal battles against the Austin Independent School District (due to its institutionalized “reverse discrimination") Monte has been on a tear. He currently has a song (“Doghouse Flowers") near the top of the Americana charts, he’s performing on a frequent rotation at the Opry, and his rockabilly band, The Wagoneers, just released their first album since 1989. (Monte also has a retro-jazz band, The Dangerous Few, that has released several recent albums.)

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

posted by Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM

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