Highlights:
Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback has ignited a major political debate with his pledge to abolish the federal H-1B visa program and remove all H-1B workers from Florida’s state workforce if elected.
The 30-year-old investor and political newcomer argues that the visa program, which allows US companies to hire foreign skilled workers, “blocks job opportunities for American workers” and disproportionately benefits Indian nationals, who currently receive the majority of H-1B visas.
Fishback, a former adviser to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), formally launched his campaign last week. In interviews and social-media posts, he has framed the H-1B visa as harmful to American labor and particularly damaging to young Floridians seeking entry-level jobs in technology and accounting.
Speaking to CNN, he criticized the practice of “importing cheap labor from India and China,” calling it “preposterous” and insisting that Americans are fully capable of filling those positions.
During the CNN interview, Fishback was pressed about why he singles out Indian Americans, who make up less than 1 per cent of Florida’s population. He responded that his focus is not on ethnicity but on the fact that Indian nationals receive around 77 per cent of all H-1B visas. “I don’t hate immigrants, but I love our own people,” he said, adding that immigrants, even those who later gain citizenship, should not be included in what he calls the American dream.
Fishback has gone further than rhetoric, promising aggressive action if he takes office. He has vowed to fire every H-1B visa holder employed by Florida state agencies and sever state contracts with companies that rely on foreign skilled workers instead of Floridians. On X, he pledged to “incentivize companies to hire Americans again” and warned of “massive fines” for companies that continue using H-1B labor.
He has also aimed at his Republican rival in the governor’s race, Byron Donalds, labeling him “H-1Byron” and accusing him of siding with corporate donors who benefit from hiring foreign workers. Fishback’s campaign has largely centered on restricting immigration and reducing the presence of foreign workers in Florida’s economy, even though the H-1B program itself is federally controlled.
Although Fishback has previously supported Donald Trump, he has criticized the former president’s backing of high-skilled visa programs. While praising Trump’s broader policies, he insists that the US needs a complete halt to legal immigration. He contrasts current immigration with that of decades past, referencing his own mother’s arrival from Colombia to argue that today’s immigration system is fundamentally different.
Fishback, who founded the investment firm Azoria in 2023 and dropped out of Georgetown University to start a hedge fund at age 21, has built his campaign on an “America First” message. His stance on immigration and foreign labor has drawn nationwide attention, particularly from tech and immigrant communities, as he positions himself as a young conservative outsider determined to reshape Florida’s workforce policies.
