Florida governor intensifies attack on visa program as technology companies slash U.S. jobs while continuing to recruit foreign workers amid the AI boom.

NEW YORK — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is escalating his attack on the H-1B visa program, accusing major technology companies of laying off American workers while continuing to import lower-cost foreign labor under the claim of a domestic talent shortage — a contradiction he says is becoming harder to defend as artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes the white-collar workforce.

In a widely circulated post on X that has since evolved into a broader policy campaign, DeSantis called the H-1B program “a scam” that has been “used to import cheap foreign labor at the expense of Americans,” adding that the practice becomes “especially galling when artificial intelligence is forecast to reduce a significant number of white collar jobs.”

The Florida governor, widely viewed as a leading Republican figure and potential 2028 presidential contender, has since moved aggressively to translate that rhetoric into policy, spearheading one of the toughest state-level crackdowns on the visa system in the country.

The criticism lands at a moment when the technology sector itself is undergoing historic upheaval.

According to layoffs tracker TrueUp, the U.S. technology industry has already logged hundreds of layoff events impacting nearly 100,000 workers so far in 2026, as corporations continue restructuring around artificial intelligence, automation and cost reduction.

Major companies across Silicon Valley and the broader tech sector have spent the past two years simultaneously cutting payrolls while dramatically increasing spending on AI infrastructure, cloud systems and data centers.

Oracle reportedly eliminated tens of thousands of positions globally this year. Amazon cut thousands of corporate roles following multiple previous rounds of layoffs. Microsoft and Meta Platforms likewise reduced headcount while continuing massive investments into AI systems and infrastructure.

At the same time, the largest hyperscale technology firms — including Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft — are collectively projected to spend hundreds of billions of dollars this year alone on AI-related infrastructure and computing capacity.

That disconnect has become central to the political backlash now building around the H-1B program.

“These tech companies will fire Americans and hire H-1B at a discount,” DeSantis said during a University of South Florida appearance last year. “This is basically, in some respects, cheap labor that they’re bringing in to try to save money.”

DeSantis has also criticized the structure of the visa system itself, arguing that because H-1B workers are tied directly to sponsoring employers, the arrangement suppresses wages and limits labor mobility in ways that disproportionately benefit corporations.

Vice President JD Vance has echoed similar concerns publicly, arguing companies should not be allowed to lay off American workers while simultaneously claiming labor shortages to justify foreign hiring.

The debate is intensifying as artificial intelligence increasingly disrupts the technology labor market itself.

For years, the H-1B program was primarily defended as a mechanism for filling highly specialized technical positions that American companies allegedly struggled to staff domestically. But critics now argue the rapid rise of AI automation weakens that argument as technology firms simultaneously reduce hiring, automate workflows and restructure staffing models.

Supporters of the program counter that the global competition for elite engineering talent remains fierce and that restricting high-skilled immigration could ultimately weaken America’s technological leadership against competitors such as China.

The Trump administration has already moved aggressively to tighten portions of the system.

Federal policy changes imposed higher fees on new H-1B applications and shifted selection rules toward higher-paid applicants rather than purely random lottery selection. The result has been a measurable decline in filings among several major technology firms.

Meanwhile, state governments are beginning to act independently.

Under DeSantis’s direction, Florida’s university system moved to restrict new H-1B hiring across public universities through at least early 2027. Texas implemented similar restrictions at state universities earlier this year.

Labor groups and some economists say the criticism surrounding the visa system increasingly reflects broader anxiety about the future of white-collar employment itself.

Artificial intelligence is already automating portions of coding, customer service, administrative support, reporting and research functions that once required large numbers of employees. That transition is fueling fears that corporations may increasingly combine automation with lower-cost global labor strategies simultaneously.

The economic stakes are significant.

Technology remains one of the most strategically important sectors in the U.S. economy, with AI, semiconductors, cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure now tied directly to national competitiveness and national security.

But the political optics of mass layoffs alongside continued foreign hiring are becoming increasingly difficult for many companies to defend publicly.

That tension is now reshaping the national debate over immigration, labor policy and the future structure of the American workforce.

For DeSantis and other Republicans pushing H-1B reform, the argument is increasingly straightforward:
if artificial intelligence is already reducing demand for certain white-collar jobs, corporations should prioritize retraining and hiring American workers before seeking lower-cost labor abroad.

For Silicon Valley, however, the concern is different.

Technology executives warn that limiting access to global engineering talent could slow innovation at the exact moment the United States is locked in an escalating technological arms race with China.

The collision between those two realities — protecting American workers versus maintaining technological dominance — is now becoming one of the defining economic and political fights of the AI era.

And as layoffs continue spreading across the technology sector, the pressure on Washington and corporate America alike is only intensifying.

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