The Dallas Independent School District has continued to secure H-1B approvals despite President Donald Trump’s implementation of a $100,000 fee on certain new visa petitions, according to updated federal data.
Figures from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services H-1B Employer Data Hub show the Dallas ISD recorded 1,290 H-1B approvals between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2025. Previous data available only through September 30, 2025, reflected 1,272 approvals over the prior five years.
The USCIS database was recently updated to include October, November, and December 2025, months that followed Trump’s September 19, 2025, proclamation requiring a $100,000 payment to accompany certain new H-1B petitions submitted after September 21, 2025, as previously reported on by The Dallas Express.
The proclamation, according to a Department of Homeland Security fact sheet, “Requires a $100,000 payment to accompany any new H-1B visa petitions submitted after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on Sept. 21, 2025,” but does not apply to previously issued visas or petitions submitted before that deadline.
The updated totals indicate DISD’s overall approvals increased by 18 compared to the prior dataset.
The federal database does not specify in its public-facing summary whether the late-2025 approvals reflect brand-new petitions subject to the $100,000 payment, amendments, renewals, or other classifications.
Previously obtained district expenditure records reviewed by The Dallas Express showed that in October through December 2024, Dallas ISD made 17 transfers to its outside immigration law firm for H-1B-related services. In October through December 2023, the records reflected 32 H-1B-related services provided.
Those legal records formed the basis of a January 29 investigation by The Dallas Express, which reported that Dallas ISD spent approximately $2.54 million between 2020 and late September 2025 on H-1B visa legal services, with 599 H-1B fee-related transactions processed by Ramirez & Associates.
The expenditure documents indicated that the majority of H-1B-related costs were charged to federal Title II, Part A funds under the Every Student Succeeds Act, which are intended to support teacher quality and instructional improvement. The records showed H-1B recruitment activity occurring throughout the year.
In a subsequent January 31 report, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said he “can’t imagine any reason why Dallas ISD should need any H-1Bs,” contemporaneous with the publication of the spending records.
Dallas ISD District 7 Trustee and 1st Vice President Ben Mackey previously told The Dallas Express, “Dallas ISD uses H-1B visas to fill particular teaching positions that are (1) in critical shortage as listed by the Department of Education and (2) we have documented inability of being able to fill without the visas.”
Mackey added, “Dallas ISD recruits aggressively across not only Texas but also across the United States.”
Gov. Greg Abbott ordered a freeze on new H-1B petitions at state agencies and public universities on January 27, citing what he described as “recent reports of abuse in the federal H-1B visa program.” The order does not apply to K-12 school districts.
The Dallas Express reached out to Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde to request comment on whether the district has submitted any new H-1B petitions since the fee took effect in September 2025 and how any such filings are funded. She did not respond by publication time.