Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback has sparked outrage after announcing that he would abolish the H-1B visa programme if elected, claiming it disadvantages American workers and disproportionately benefits Indians. Fishback, a 30-year-old investor and former DOGE adviser, formally launched his campaign last week and has since made anti-immigration rhetoric the centrepiece of his political agenda.
Speaking to CNN, Fishback argued that American graduates in Florida were losing job opportunities to foreign workers, particularly those from India and China. “The idea of importing cheap labour for entry-level IT and accounting jobs is preposterous,” he said, adding that Americans are “the hungriest and most brilliant people on Earth.”
When asked why he specifically mentioned Indians—who represent just 0.59% of Florida’s population—Fishback said he was focused on data, not ethnicity. “Indian nationals receive about 77% of all H-1B visas,” he said. “I don't hate immigrants, but I love our own people.”
Fishback further vowed to fire every H-1B visa holder working in Florida’s state agencies and terminate government contracts with companies employing foreign workers instead of “qualified Floridians.” He accused Republican opponent Byron Donalds of siding with “corporate donors” who benefit from the visa programme.
Although the H-1B programme is federally administered, Fishback has promised aggressive state-level measures—including penalties and contract cancellations—to discourage companies from hiring foreign professionals.
Fishback has also criticised former President Donald Trump for supporting high-skilled immigrant visas, despite his own history of backing Trump. He is calling for a complete halt on legal immigration, claiming that immigration “today is not the same as 30, 40, 50 years ago.”
Born to a Colombian immigrant mother and raised in a working-class family, Fishback founded the investment firm Azoria in 2023 and has built his campaign as an “America First” conservative outsider.
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