In a bold and divisive declaration, Florida’s gubernatorial candidate James Fishback pledged to remove all H-1B visa holders from state positions on his inaugural day, intending to fill those roles with local talent.
Conservative figure James Fishback, who is an outspoken critic of immigration and one of the most influential ‘America First’ loudmouths, triggered a row after posting a message on X. “I’ll fire every single H-1B working at our state agencies before the sun sets on my first day as Florida Governor. Then we’ll hire incredible Floridians for those posts,” he posted. Fishback is expected to run for governor of Florida in 2026. Fishback, a DeSantis-aligned investor and political activist, has been signalling a bid for months and recently scaled up his public attacks on immigration and the H-1B visa system, which many see as an early pitch to Republican primary voters. The comments come as Donald Trump said in a Fox News interview last week that the United States lacks talent and needs skilled foreigners to fill crucial sectors such as technology and defence. His remarks split the MAGA base, with the White House scrambling to defend the president while Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Greene accused Trump of going against the America First agenda.Fishback has built a public identity around targeting Indian and Chinese talent in the US. Fishback is a 30-year-old investor and former adviser to DOGE and Elon Musk. He has positioned himself as one of the loudest voices calling for a complete dismantling of the H-1B programme. In a recent Fox News interview, he argued that American companies “do not need” foreign skilled workers, accusing employers of hiding job openings while millions of qualified Americans remain underemployed. He has repeatedly pushed for a full immigration moratorium, saying the next chapter of America “should be written by its own citizens.”His views stand in polar opposite to the tech and finance industries, which rely heavily on high-skilled workers from India and China, particularly in engineering and software development. Fishback was born in 1995, he began studying International Economics at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service but left before completing the degree. He entered finance soon after and, in 2021, joined David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital, rising quickly to Head of Macro. In 2023, he co-founded Azoria Partners with Asaf H. Abramovich. The hedge fund’s launch at Mar-a-Lago, featuring an appearance by Donald Trump, pushed Fishback further into the public eye.
