Update to original story: More than an hour after the close of business on January 21, 2026, and following DX’s report to the Texas Attorney General, Texas A&M released the H-1B files to The Dallas Express. These files will be included in an upcoming report.
****
Texas A&M University is facing scrutiny after The Dallas Express filed a complaint with the Texas Attorney General alleging the school repeatedly failed to produce public records related to its use of foreign worker programs despite months of extensions.
The complaint, filed January 21, indicates a belief from DX that Texas A&M has failed to release documents tied to its usage of Optional Practical Training and H-1B visa workers, programs that sit at the center of a growing national debate over how the demographics of communities and wage levels are affected by the foreign labor hiring practices of public universities.
Under the Texas Public Information Act, state agencies typically have 10 days to release requested information from taxpayers, unless a few conditions are met. The website for Texas A&M’s general counsel repeatedly recognizes this and states, “[State law] gives you the right to access government records… All government information is presumed to be available to the public.”
Yet, after roughly two months, the university has still not supplied the requested records.
Around Thanksgiving, The Dallas Express submitted two separate public information requests seeking records showing the expenses the university incurs in hiring and supporting OPT and H-1B workers over the past five years. The requests were intended to shed light on administrative costs, compliance burdens, and taxpayer-funded resources tied to the programs.
For OPT-related records, the university initially indicated it would respond by December 22, 2025, but on that date issued a cost estimate of $2,565. The following day, December 23, The Dallas Express reformulated the request to avoid fees and promptly notified the university. Nearly a month later, on January 20, 2026, Texas A&M had still not produced documents and invoked another extension, setting a new deadline of January 28.
The university’s public information officer initially told DX that the request seeking H-1B-related records would be completed by December 18, 2025. However, this deadline was extended four times, most recently to January 21, 2026. As of 5:00 pm on January 21, 2026, The Dallas Express had not received the requested documents.
State law effectively permits reasonable extensions if there is some circumstance that is preventing the state agency from releasing records “within a reasonable time, without delay,” but both the text of the statute and the OAG’s Public Information Handbook are unclear as to what constitutes “reasonable” and what circumstances permit extended delays.
The Office of the Attorney General confirmed receipt of the complaint and assigned it a reference number, but the agency’s lawyers have not yet indicated they will proceed.
Texas A&M did not respond to questions from The Dallas Express about the delays or the status of the requests.
The dispute comes amid scrutiny of how private- and public-sector employers, such as companies and universities, are changing Texas.
Previous reporting by The Dallas Express documented that the University of Texas at Dallas spent more than $1.1 million over five years on H-1B-related fees and compliance costs, based on records obtained through a Texas Public Information Act request. Those disclosures included payments to the Department of Homeland Security, credentialing services, and the salaries of in-house immigration specialists, according to the records.
72% of H-1B visas are awarded to workers from India, with 12% going to those from China, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data.
H-1B visas are reportedly frequently used to fill entry-level or just above entry-level jobs at wages below the median. “In fiscal year 2019, 60 percent of H-1B positions were paid at the lowest two levels, meaning they were paid below the median wage for the occupation and location,” the AFL-CIO’s 2025 H-1B fact sheet said.
72% of foreign graduates use OPT, according to one 2019 study. Although the work authorization generally lasts for one year, it can be extended for up to three years for STEM graduates.
The Department of Homeland Security website explains that OPT workers are generally exempt from Social Security Taxes for their first five years of employment.
Supporters of OPT and H-1B argue that the programs are critical pipelines for high-skilled talent trained at U.S. universities. Economists at the Peterson Institute for International Economics argued in a 2025 article that eliminating OPT would reduce innovation, productivity, and long-term job growth, citing research linking foreign graduates to higher patenting rates, startup formation, and wage growth for native workers. The article reported that roughly one-third of OPT participants later transition to visas like the H-1B.
The national political debate has sharpened under President Donald Trump, who has alternated between criticizing temporary worker programs and defending their role in sectors such as technology and semiconductor manufacturing, DX reported.
Some figures, like former Republican Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, have said that the H-1B program is necessary because “Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long.”
Others like Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) said, “That H-1B visa program has got to either stop right now until we understand the amount of just how it’s being taken advantage of, or redone so it doesn’t exist,” in an interview with podcaster Benny Johnson.
