AUSTIN — Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller announced on Wednesday, October 28, that the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) will no longer award eligible department-administered grants to businesses that employ H-1B visa holders — a move that takes the state's campaign against the H-1B programme from public payrolls into private businesses that want taxpayer support.
“Texas taxpayers work hard for their money. They deserve to know that their tax dollars are being used to create opportunities for Texans — not to subsidize businesses that choose foreign labor while Texans are ready and willing to work,” Miller said in the department's announcement. “If a company wants taxpayer support, it should demonstrate a commitment to the people paying the bill. Texas workers should come first. Period.”
What exactly is changing — and what is not
Under the announcement, businesses seeking eligible TDA grant funding must meet the department's new requirements, including restrictions tied to employing H-1B visa holders. The department described the changes as proposed eligibility changes, and independent analysis of the announcement noted that TDA has not yet published the detailed requirements businesses will have to meet.
The limits are written into the announcement itself. The proposed changes do not apply to TDA-administered grant programmes operated on behalf of independent boards, commissions or entities that set their own eligibility criteria. They also do not restrict public or private Texas entities from receiving federal grant funds, or from taking part in state-funded loan programmes administered by the department.
“We're not going to turn a blind eye to how taxpayer money is used,” Miller said. “Every dollar comes from a Texas taxpayer. Every dollar should be put to work in the public interest. If we're serious about putting Texans first, we must be willing to back up those words with action.”
A challenge to the governor and every statewide official
Miller used the announcement to challenge Governor Greg Abbott and every other statewide elected official to adopt similar safeguards across their agencies, grant programmes and economic development initiatives, and to increase transparency around who receives public money.
“Governor Abbott has publicly declared that taxpayer-funded employment should prioritize Texans. I agree — and now it's time to turn that principle into action,” Miller said. “Texans deserve more than tough talk. They deserve a government that puts their interests first when spending their money. I challenge the governor and every statewide elected official to examine their grant programs and close the gaps that allow taxpayer dollars to flow to businesses employing H-1B visa holders.”
Background: Texas has been tightening on H-1B all year
The TDA step follows a series of Texas moves aimed first at public employers. Governor Abbott's January 27 directive froze new H-1B petitions at state agencies and public universities through May 31, 2027, and in August he proposed barring public schools from employing H-1B workers at all. Analysis of Wednesday's announcement noted that Abbott's freeze exempted agencies run by statewide elected officials — the Department of Agriculture among them — which makes Miller's move a different kind of step: instead of limiting whom the state itself hires, it uses public money to shape whom private companies hire.
The H-1B is the federal visa that lets U.S. employers hire foreign workers in specialty occupations, and Indian professionals hold the largest share of H-1B approvals — which is why each new Texas restriction lands directly on the Indian and Punjabi professional community in Houston, Dallas and across the state. For diaspora-owned or diaspora-employing businesses in agriculture and food supply chains, the practical question is now eligibility: a business that employs H-1B holders may find itself shut out of eligible TDA grants even though the ban does not touch federal grants or state loan programmes.
TDA has announced the policy but has not yet published the detailed eligibility requirements. Businesses that employ H-1B visa holders and rely on department-administered grants should watch for the written requirements and any Texas Register filing before assuming which grants are affected — the announcement itself exempts independent-board programmes, federal grants and state-funded loans.
What happens next
Miller has called on Abbott and other statewide officials to review their own grant and economic incentive programmes — if that challenge is taken up, the same condition could reach far more employers than agriculture grants alone. The Texas Legislature, which meets in January 2027, could also write grant conditions like these into law. Until TDA publishes its written requirements, the announcement is a policy direction with the detail still to come — and every Texas employer with H-1B staff and a state grant application in progress has a reason to read that detail the day it appears.
Sources: Texas Department of Agriculture announcement via EIN Presswire, October 28, 2026 (Commissioner Miller's statements and the policy's stated scope and exemptions); Immigration Analytics analysis of the announcement, October 28, 2026 (unpublished detailed requirements, Abbott's January freeze and August schools proposal, and the elected-officials exemption reported by Axios).