Republican Indiana lawmaker criticizes university for H-1B visa job offer

EXCLUSIVE: A Republican Indiana lawmaker has spoken out against Indiana University after the school posted a job posting advertising the position to be filled by an H-1B visa holder, rather than an Indiana graduate or resident.

“One of the main purposes of a state university is to educate the next generation so they can find jobs here in Indiana and, surprisingly, that same school turns around and says, ‘Except when we hire people, we’re going to hire people from foreign countries instead of our own graduates,’” State Rep. Andrew Ireland told Fox News Digital.

In a Tuesday post onIreland took issue with a job posting on the IU website for a “marketing generalist” who pays $68,000 per year and which was classified as a “notice of intent to hire H-1B/E-3 employee 2.”

His criticism quickly spread on social media, and Ireland told Fox News Digital it was “frustrating” to see the state’s “flagship” university offer the job to a foreign worker rather than a student or graduate of the school.

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Indiana University is facing criticism from a state lawmaker for advertising jobs aimed at H1-B visa holders rather than graduates. (Getty)

Meanwhile, Ireland told Fox News Digital that the job offer was “not a surprise.”

“I think there have been over 220 H-1B applications filed this year for opportunities at different universities and colleges in the state of Indiana,” Ireland explained. “These are public universities, public institutions, or in some cases the state government itself, that are using H-1B visas to fill positions. But frankly, very few of them seem truly technical or unique in nature. There is no specialization for a marketing generalist, librarian, or marketing instructor. Some of these positions are currently filled in the state of Indiana by H-1B workers. »

Ireland, an Indiana University graduate, said there had been a “long-standing struggle” against the university’s “political shift” and reflected on a situation when he was a student where he said a journalism professor suggested to him that Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, for whom Ireland worked as a student, was “the devil.”

“I have thick skin, you can give me as much as you want,” Ireland told Fox News Digital. “But I think what’s really indicative of what’s happening on the campus of Indiana University and many other schools across the country is that I think you really have the infection of the woke mind virus..“

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A family walks with a student past the main gates of the Indiana University campus into town during the fall break weekend. (iStock)

Ireland continued: “I think there’s a good case to be made that this kind of abuse of the H-1B certainly plays a role in this too, where, you know, again, instead of really saying that our best and brightest here in Indiana should have opportunities, that we really want to focus on merit, we’re going to be looking outside of this country, even for relatively low-skilled positions. Very frustrating, to say the least.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Indiana University for comment.

The Trump administration has worked since January to crack down on H-1B visa abuses, both by implementing financial incentives on companies to hire Americans instead of foreign workers and investigating companies that might be abusing the system.

Last week, Fox News Digital first reported that Trump’s Department of Labor has launched at least 175 ongoing investigations targeting possible abuses within the H-1B visa program.

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Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced in November that her department was cracking down on reported H-1B abuses. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Ireland says it commends the Trump administration for “taking the issue seriously.”

“But what I’m really focused on as an Indiana state legislator is controlling what we can through state government, through our own public institutions that are funded and subsidized by taxpayer dollars, to ensure that we put our money where we want it,” Ireland told Fox News Digital. “If we’re America First, that means we’re going to hire American workers to fill American jobs, not foreigners. And I think that’s something we can do even without the federal government, no matter who’s in the White House, and we should really focus on that here in the state of Indiana.”

Regarding what Ireland can do regarding H-1B visas at the state level in his capacity as a legislator, he discussed the upcoming legislative session in the state and suggested he has plans in the works.

“I’m working on putting together a bill, hopefully, specifically on this issue,” Ireland said. “Short of banning H-1B visas outright, and I think there’s a strong case for that, we need to at least demand more transparency on this.”

“It’s one thing when we talk about the Elon Musks of the world. You know these highly skilled foreigners who bring a skill set that we just don’t have in our own workforce. But I have to tell you, there are plenty of people who can create PowerPoints and charts and post them on Facebook for Indiana University. We don’t need to hire someone for $68,000 a year to do the job that an American worker can do.”