Iowa’s two major-party candidates for governor sparred over the H-1B visa program during a televised gubernatorial debate Wednesday evening, with Democrat Rob Sand defending the continued use of foreign professionals in jobs that could be filled by Iowans and Republican Zach Lahn calling for an end to the practice at state agencies and universities.
“[I] want to make sure that we have professionals in the state of Iowa to do what we need done for Iowans,” Sand said during the debate, defending his support for allowing more H-1B visa holders into Iowa’s white-collar workforce.
Lahn countered that Iowa taxpayer-funded institutions should stop relying on imported labor when American workers are available. “I don’t think it’s the right idea to import people from other countries to be doing these jobs,” he said, adding: “I think we need to take a long-term approach at looking to say, ‘How do we build the workforce in Iowa?’ I believe a self-respecting state and a self-respecting country is a country that is going to invest in its people, the people that are here.”
Sand pushed back on the idea of cutting off the visa program, framing it as a matter of necessity given Iowa’s demographic trends. “If you end that [H-1B inflow], what happens if you’ve run out of [American] applicants? Then you don’t have any. You want to prioritize Iowans? That’s a good idea, but saying that you’re not welcome otherwise, I think, is a mistake. We got a lot of work that we need to have done in Iowa,” he said. “We’re one of the slowest growing populations in America… We need to make sure that we’re not closing the door on people who want to be here.”
Sand pointed to a personal example to illustrate his point, describing a law school classmate who relocated to Iowa City from Hawaii. “I went to school with a guy in Iowa City for law school… He didn’t move here thinking that he would stay, but he loves it here,” Sand said — an example involving an American citizen rather than a foreign visa holder.
Lahn’s Case for Iowa Workers
Lahn laid out a broader vision for reducing reliance on the H-1B program in state institutions, arguing Iowa should instead train and retain its own residents. “We are a welcoming country. But we have people in our state and our country that are hurting, that are looking for work and looking for training, and we need to be investing in the citizens that are within our state and within our country,” he said. “I think that that is the ultimate answer as we look at this, is how do we build up the skill set and the population of the people that live here to make sure, for the long term, that we have a plan to cover these jobs.”
He added that ending H-1B hiring at universities and state government would give “Iowa kids the first say at those jobs,” saying the state can “prioritize the people that live here, that built this state, that want to be here for four, five, or six more generations.”
The Numbers Behind the Debate
Government data compiled by LayoffHedge.com shows the scale of H-1B hiring at Iowa’s public universities since 2015: the University of Iowa has requested 2,788 foreign workers, and Iowa State University of Science and Technology has requested 1,385. State agencies have also brought on foreign workers through contractors including Infosys and Capgemini.
Private employers in the state have used the program as well. Since 2015, Deere & Co. has requested 305 H-1B workers, TransAmerican Life Insurance Co. has requested 211, and the Genesis Health System has requested 157. More than 1,300 Iowa employers have sought H-1B workers since 2015, with many also using related programs such as J-1, L-1, OPT, and F-1/H4EAD visas.
Iowa’s governor has no direct legal authority to stop private employers from using the federal H-1B program, though the office can apply public pressure on companies to favor American applicants. Under federal law, universities and other nonprofits face no caps on H-1B hiring, a provision critics say some institutions use to hire relatives of existing H-1B employees.
Lahn has argued that keeping these jobs open to Iowans would help stem the departure of young residents from the state.
