This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
In a bold and unprecedented move, Florida has become the first state in the nation to take formal action against the use of foreign worker visas in its public university system. Gov. Ron DeSantis's new proclamation to "pull the plug"on H-1B visas in state institutions, sets a national example, one that could reshape how other states protect their own graduates and taxpayers.
"This is about putting Florida workers and American citizens first," DeSantis declared. "We can do it with our residents of Florida and with Americans."
It's a landmark moment, a state finally standing up to the federal government's decades-long neglect of American labor. However, the H-1B visa is just one part of a much larger system that feeds cheap foreign labor into American jobs.
The alphabet soup of visa programs
The H-1B visa is the most widely known program, allowing companies to hire foreign workers for "specialty occupations" like technology, engineering and business. Legally, employers are supposed to use it only when they cannot find qualified U.S. workers, but in practice, the system has been massively abused to cut labor costs, replacing Americans with cheaper foreign labor.
But the H-1B is just the visible tip of a much deeper structure of foreign visa pipelines. Another is the F-1 student visa, which allows foreign nationals to study in the United States. After graduation, those students can remain in America and work through programs called Optional Practical Training (OPT) and STEM-OPT (for science, technology, engineering and math fields).
OPT is billed as "hands-on training," but in reality it functions as a government-approved work program that lets international students hold real jobs for up to one year after graduation – or three years under the STEM-OPT extension. Employers don't have to pay Social Security or Medicare taxes for these workers, which means they are much cheaper to hire than Americans. In other words, the classroom has become the cheapest recruiting channel in America.
Universities feed the supply, employers feed the demand
The F-1 student visa and its work-authorization offshoots, OPT and STEM-OPT, have become universities' primary gateway into this system. Once marketed as "cultural exchange," these programs now function as revenue engines that allow schools fill classrooms with full-pay international students while giving corporations access to a never-ending pool of low-cost labor.
Each foreign student represents tens of thousands in tuition dollars for universities as well as a tax-free employee for participating companies. Under OPT, neither side pays payroll taxes, saving employers roughly 8% per hire while sidelining American graduates who must compete against subsidized foreign labor on their own soil.
According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' FY 2024 H-1B Characteristics Report, more than half of all new H-1B approvals were changes of status for people already inside the United States and 71% of those came directly from F-1 or F-2 student visas.
In plain terms, most so-called "new" H-1B workers aren't being imported from abroad at all; they're former international students who never left. The result is a closed-loop system in which universities import students, employers convert them to workers and the federal government keeps the pipeline open – all while Americans are told there's a "shortage" of talent.
Florida's universities show exactly how these visa pipelines operate in real life.
The University of Florida case study: When 'education' becomes cheap labor
The University of Florida is a case study of how this system operates. In 2024, UF ranked #40 in the nation for international student enrollment with 7,353 F-1 visa holders, according to federal data.
The same year, UF ranked #37 among the Top 200 Employers for OPT and STEM-OPT students, hiring 640 foreign students on OPT and STEM OPT extensions and ranked #43 among the top 100 campuses with F-1 foreign students employed on OPT with 1,675 students working in U.S. jobs through the program.
By comparison, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services records show UF filed just 252 petitions for H-1B visas that year. That means most of the university's foreign labor did not come from overseas hiring. Instead, most of the university's foreign labor came from international students already in Florida, who moved seamlessly from classroom to workplace under the F-1 and OPT programs, bypassing American job-seekers entirely.
A new model for protecting American workers
Florida's action follows on the heels of a major federal reform by President Donald J. Trump, who is once again taking on America's broken visa system. On Sept. 19, Trump signed a Presidential Proclamation on the Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, which imposes new limits on foreign-worker entry under H-1B and other categories.
The proclamation, effective Sept. 21, raised the cost of H-1B petitions by introducing a $100,000 application fee, restricting entry for low-wage positions and granting the federal government greater authority to deny visas that do not serve the national interest. The move aligns with Trump's continuing "America First" labor policy, aimed at reducing corporate reliance on foreign labor and prioritizing American workers.
The state of Florida is the first-in-the-nation to strike against this cycle. By targeting H-1B visas in public universities, Florida has exposed how deeply the foreign-labor system has infiltrated the education sector.
But this is only step one. The F-1 student and OPT work programs are the universities' contribution to the same problem and they've quietly become the largest foreign-labor pipeline in the country. Ending abuse in these programs as well would mean millions of dollars in savings for taxpayers, new opportunities for American graduates and a shift away from the government-sanctioned system of undercutting U.S. labor.
Together, President Trump's federal crackdown and Florida's state-level enforcement create a new model of American labor protection, one that holds universities, employers and the federal government itself accountable for using visa programs in ways that undermine American workers.
Why reform can't stop with H-1B or OPT
For decades, universities and corporations have profited from a revolving door of student and worker visas, turning America's immigration system into an endless conveyor belt of cheap foreign labor. Now, for the first time in years, with federal and state governments finally aligned, that door is beginning to close.
The U.S. visa system has evolved into a sprawling web of programs that reach far beyond H-1B and OPT. Visas such as L-1 (intra-company transfers), H-4 EAD (spousal work permits), J-1 (trainee exchanges) and even investor visas have been quietly repurposed to serve the same purpose, giving employers a steady flow of lower-cost foreign labor at the direct expense of American workers.
If reform stops at H-1B, the system will simply shift to another category. If it stops at OPT, universities will invent new loopholes to keep the profits flowing. The problem is not a single visa program; it is the pipeline itself and the perverse incentives that reward institutions for bypassing U.S. citizens in favor of cheaper foreign alternatives.
America's future wellbeing depends on ending this revolving door of imported labor, student conversion and corporate offshoring once and for all. Every loophole, from F-1 to H-1B to L-1, erodes the promise of equal opportunity for the men and women who built this nation. Florida has proven that real leadership does not wait for permission and President Trump has shown that courage in Washington can still rewrite the rules for the working class.
But this fight cannot end with one state or one proclamation. It must extend to every program, every visa category, every offshore pipeline and every institution that profits from putting foreign workers and foreign interests ahead of Americans. Only when the entire system is dismantled, rebuilt and held accountable will the United States return to what it was always meant to be, a nation that rewards its own citizens first, values honest work and defends the American Dream without compromise.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Democrats in the U.S. Senate who repeatedly have demanded the continuation of the Schumer Shutdown, the suspension of the federal budget and its spending programs, on Friday got a short reprieve from a federal judge.
The Democrats in the Senate have refused to allow a short-term continuing resolution promoted by the Republicans that effectively would keep funding at the same levels for the next few weeks.
They have demanded that Congress raid Americans' bank accounts for $1.5 trillion to use for propaganda, for health coverage for illegal aliens, and such.
They were under intense pressure right now because food stamp benefits were scheduled to expire Friday night.
There is a $5 billion reserve account but Trump administration officials explained they were not allowed to access that during a shutdown.
A judge ordered them to do it anyway.
A Fox report said, "The rulings mark a blow for the administration and, for the time being, the loss of another pressure point on Democrats in the Senate to reopen the government."
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said, "We're looking at all the options."
It was Jack McConnell, a judge in Rhode Island, who took over the administration's decision-making process in light of the fact Democrats have refused to fund government programs.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was to run out of money Friday night, and even with $5 billion, won't last through the month of November.
Reports said about 42 million people get taxpayer funded help with their groceries all the time.
The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by Democrat states.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
"Prince" Andrew of England, King Charles' brother, no longer is "Prince."
He's just Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
That official announcement from the "Royals" in England is the latest fallout over Andrew's links to Jeffrey Epstein, the New York billionaire and convicted sex offender who died in a city jail awaiting more charges.
It is Virginia Guiffre, who died weeks ago, who had confirmed several times that she was trafficked as a teenager to Andrew by Epstein.
Andrew earlier gave up his various "honors" but that apparently was not enough.
In a "Royal Communications" the crown released a "statement."
"His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew.
"Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. Formal notice has nowt been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation. These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.
"Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse."
The 76-year-old king released the changes for his brother, 65.
A report from the Daily Mail revealed, "Andrew is said to have not objected."
But the report noted his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, will keep their titles.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A woman in Columbine Valley, Colorado, just south of Denver, has beaten a citation delivered by a traffic-camera-citing cop with her own indisputable evidence. And she got a congratulations from the police chief for her detective work, but still hasn't gotten an apology for the wrongful accusation.
The charge against Chrisanna Elser came from Officer Jamie Milliman, of the Columbine Valley Police Department.
He was so overconfident that his tracking of Elser's vehicle on traffic cameras proved his case he refused to show her the video evidence.
"You have not been honest with me, so I'm not going to extend you any courtesy of showing you a video when I don't need to," he snarked at her.
She then spent days collecting evidence, mailed it to the chief, Bret Cottrell, who responded via email: "After reviewing the evidence you have provided (nicely done btw), we have voided the summons we issued."
The officer had claimed to Elser that a conviction was a "lock" because he doesn't "make stuff up."
According to the Colorado Sun, the officer's wrongful allegations were based on Flock cameras, which record traffic, and Ring doorbell cameras.
Milliman had accused Elser of stealing a $25 package from a doorstep in nearby Bow Mar.
"You know we have cameras in that town. You can't get a breath of fresh air in or out of that place without us knowing," Milliman boasted.
According to the Colorado Sun, the officer's wrongful allegations were based on Flock cameras, which record traffic, and Ring doorbell cameras.
Milliman had accused Elser of stealing a $25 package from a doorstep in nearby Bow Mar.
"You know we have cameras in that town. You can't get a breath of fresh air in or out of that place without us knowing," Milliman boasted.
Elser, fighting the obstinacy of the officer, assembled snapshots from her Google timeline, a phone tool that tracks her stops, statements from people she met that day, and more. She collected surveillance images from the locations she stopped. And dashboard video from her car.
Flock is one of the big spy camera operations in the country, providing its "evidence" to multiple police agencies. However, civil liberties advocates argue its operations threaten privacy and can be abused.
She eventually obtained access to the victim's doorbell camera, which showed the thief running away, not getting into her vehicle.
She said problems, after her exoneration, still are alarming. "We had to basically exonerate ourselves," she charged. "It's fortunate that we have our own footage to fight back something like this.
"It's a little upsetting that everyone knows that the answer to be, you are innocent until proven guilty. It seemed to be the other way around that it was guilty until you prove yourself innocent," she warned.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A new survey from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression reveals the massive damage inflicted by hate campaigns that are launched against academics across America when they say something of which "the mob" disapproves.
FIRE surveyed more than 600 academics listed in its Scholars under Fire database who were sanctioned or targeted from 2020 to 2024, and 209 responded.
"Nearly all (94%) who participated in the survey described the impact of their experience as negative. Roughly two-thirds (65%) experienced emotional distress, and significant chunks reported facing harrowing social setbacks, such as being shunned at work (40%) or losing professional relationships (47%) and friendships (33%)," the organization reported. "For some, the consequences were severe. About a quarter of the scholars who completed the survey reported that they sought psychological counseling (27%), and 1 in 5 lost their jobs entirely (20%)."
Nathan Honeycutt, the organization's manager of polling and analytics, said, "Cancellation campaigns are often wrapped in the language of preventing 'emotional harm.' But our survey shows that it's the mobs themselves that inflict lasting mental anguish on academics, many of whom still suffer the consequences long after the controversy subsided."
The report found the attacks to be one-sided, citing large numbers of professors, one in three, who say they have "toned down" their statements for fear of causing controversy: "These concerns are especially pronounced among politically moderate and conservative faculty members, who report self-censoring more frequently than they liberal and progressive colleagues.
"They also express greater worry about damaging their reputations or losing their jobs. In the 2024 faculty survey, for instance, more than half of conservative respondents reported at least occasionally hiding their political beliefs from peers in order to protect their careers. It remains unclear whether this climate of fear is primarily driven by the threat of cancellation itself or by the broader unwillingness of faculty to defend foundational principles of free expression," the report said.
The database from which FIRE drew contact includes a list of those who faced calls for sanction for their speech from 2000 to now.
"This database includes almost 1,700 documented sanction attempts, including a record number this year, with 300 of these attempts resulting in faculty terminations. Most of these incidents have occurred over the past decade."
One professor wrote, "Due to the extreme amount of hate mail and voicemails I received, I had a campus police officer posted outside my class for a period of time and an escort to my vehicle. My husband was constantly worried about my safety, we rarely went places in public, and my mother was harassed online by complete strangers."
Another found an email message: "You are unintelligent. You are poorly educated. You are nauseatingly fat and hideous. Your life has no value. Kill yourself."
They reported their families frequently were caught in the fallout, and there was a chilling effect.
""Overall, scholars were split on whether they'd speak similarly again. Along ideological lines, liberals were more likely to report their speech being chilled (i.e., that they were less likely to say similar things in the future), while conservatives were more likely to indicate they were not detracted (i.e., that they were as much, if not more likely, to say similar things in the future)," the survey found.
Further, "Public silence sends a message about what views are acceptable and safe to express, effectively narrowing the range of ideas deemed reasonable to discuss on campus. This may result in topic avoidance in teaching and research, especially on contested or policy-relevant issues."
Of the respondents, 65% reported emotional distress, 53% lost sleep, 47% lost professional relationships, 40% were shunned at work, 29% had family members with collateral damage, 27% sought counseling, and 20% lost jobs.
One of the problems that was revealed, FIRE said, was that "Nearly all institutions of higher learning promise academic freedom and free speech rights to their scholars. But many of the targeted scholars reported that they received no support from precisely the institutions and individuals who were supposed to have their backs in moments of crisis and controversy. Only 21% reported that they received at least a moderate amount of public support of their faculty union, for example, and a paltry 11% reported that they received public support from administrators."
FIRE said its report "also found a noticeable partisan gap in the level of public support reported by scholars. Larger proportions of conservative than liberal faculty reported that they received support from the general public (55% vs. 37%). But far fewer than their liberal peers reported that they received public support from their faculty union (7% vs. 29%) or their university colleagues (19% vs. 40%)."
"Support for academic freedom should never depend on the views being expressed, but our survey shows that's exactly what's happening," said FIRE research advisor Sean Stevens. "If faculty unions and institutions of higher learning won't stand by scholars in their moments of crisis, they can't claim to stand for free speech and inquiry."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The American people still do not know, and may never know, all of the players in Washington and elsewhere who carried out the Democrat party's lawfare against President Trump over the years.
But they now know those who were the pushers behind the agenda: Former Attorney General Merrick Garland, ex-Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and ex-FBI chief Chris Wray.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley has released documents showing those names as the activists who were pushing for the "Arctic Frost" investigation that produced much of the Democrats' lawfare against Trump.
Already released, earlier this year, were documents proving the FBI and DOJ weaponized themselves in order to put a bull's-eye on Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence and others.
It was that investigation, "a taxpayer-funded witch hunt," that was begun in early 2022, seizing government-issued cell phones from Trump and Pence.
Jack Smith, the inappropriately appointed lawyer who orchestrated the scheme after it was launched, also spied on eight Republican senators during his campaign against Trump.
"Opening of this full investigation is governed by the DOJ Memo. The DOJ Memo requires written notification to and consultation with the Assistant Attorney General and U.S. Attorney with jurisdiction over the matter and written approval of the Attorney General, through the Deputy Attorney General, prior the opening of any investigation of a declared candidate for president or vice president, a presidential campaign, or a senior presidential campaign staff member or advisor," the paperwork charges.
"It is assessed that the pool of potential subjects may include individuals who fall into one or more of these categories. Although members of the 45th Presidential administration are no longer in office, the DOJ Memo states that the scope of this policy should be broadly construed to ensure that Department leadership is made aware of the opening of matters that could potentially be disruptive to the democratic process if publicly disclosed prior to an election, encouraging the FBI to err on the side of caution or seeking approval if there could be any question as to whether such actions are required under this policy," it said.
The Washington Examiner reported that four-page memo was approved by Garland.
"Proof that Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland + Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco + FBI Dir Chris Wray all PERSONALLY APPROVED opening Arctic Frost," Grassley wrote on X. "This investigation unleashed unchecked government power at the highest levels. My oversight will continue."
The report noted the FBI at the time cited "no confidential sources or independent corroboration of suspected wrongdoing." Instead its claims came from "media reporting, podcasts…"
Members of Congress have described the Democrats' schemes as worse than Watergate, and have demanded full access to all evidence of "Arctic Frost."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
More than 2,000 names verified as non-citizens have been found on the voter rolls in Texas – and an unknown number of these people are illegal aliens.
The data comes from Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson, who said Monday that 2,724 non-citizens were found to be registered to vote in the state after officials cross-referenced voter rolls with a federal citizenship database.
"Only eligible United States citizens may participate in our elections," Nelson said. "The Trump administration's decision to give states free and direct access to this data set for the first time has been a game changer, and we appreciate the partnership with the federal government to verify the citizenship of those on our voter rolls and maintain accurate voter lists."
The 2,724 voter registrations comes from the total number of Texans registered, about 18 million.
Nelson said the information gleaned will now go to each county so officials can investigate the eligibility status of each flagged registration. By Texas statue, those ineligible will be removed from the rolls and referred to the state attorney general for possible action.
"Everyone's right to vote is sacred and must be protected. We encourage counties to conduct rigorous investigations to determine if any voter is ineligible – just as they do with any other data set we provide," Nelson said.
According to the secretary of state, Texas was among the first state to partner with USCIS to compare its voter list with the federal SAVE database.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Iran's Shariah agenda, specifically the Islamic law and government's demand for "modesty" in women's attire, has taken a huge hit because of online videos.
They show Ali Shamkhani, "one of the Islamic Republic's top enforcers" of clothing for women that covers them up, parading around at his daughter's wedding, and she is wearing a very revealing strapless gown with a plunging neckline.
So is Shamklhani's wife, according to the reports.
A journalist's report said, "The daughter of Ali Shamkhani one of the Islamic Republic's top enforcers had a lavish wedding in a strapless dress. Meanwhile, women in Iran are beaten for showing their hair and young people can't afford to marry. This video made millions of Iranian furious. Because they enforce 'Islamic values' with, bullets , batons and prisons on everyone but themselves. … The same regime that killed #MahsaAmini for showing a bit of her hair, jails women for singing, whose hired 80,000 'morality police' to drag girls into vans, throws itself a luxury party. This isn't hypocrisy, it's the system. They preach 'modesty' while their own daughters parade in designer dresses."
Another commenter said, "He employs morality police and imprisons any woman who does not wear a veil in Iran. One rule for him and one rule for everyone else in Iran."
The Daily Mail reported, "Footage circulating on social media shows Ali Shamkhani, a top advisor to Iran's supreme leader and a member of the Expediency Council, escorting his daughter, Fatemeh, into a wedding hall at Tehran's luxury Espinas Palace Hotel. The bride wore a strapless white dress with a low neckline and entered the grand room to cheers and music."
Iranian social media, the report said, was "accusing Shamkhani of hypocrisy, considering the mandatory hijab and modesty laws that have restricted women's dress for decades."
Shamkhani was secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, which is responsible for the regime's national security, between 2013 and 2023.
He held that position, the report said, "when the government organized a brutal crackdown on the protests following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman, who died in police custody in 2022 after being arrested for allegedly violating rules requiring women to wear the headscarf."
The report said, "The wedding of Shamkhani's daughter was reportedly held in April 2024 and attended by members of Iran's political elite."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
PALM BEACH, Florida – Tom Cruise has competition. It looks like President Donald Trump is suddenly the No. 2 top gun in America.
The commander in chief late Saturday posted an epic artificial intelligence video of himself piloting an American fighter jet called "King Trump," dumping what appears to be loads of feces on "No Kings" protesters who are voicing their objections this weekend against the president.
Among the protesters is left-wing influencer Harry Sisson, who is seen getting completely doused with poop.
The video even includes music from the popular "Top Gun" film, specifically the song "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins.
"We truly live in historic times," noted journalist Benny Johnson.
One of those flushed with amazement by the clip is Democrat U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, (no pun intended), who wonders: "But seriously why would the President post an image on the Internet of airdropping feces on American cities?"
Sisson was also perplexed.
"Can a reporter please ask Trump why he posted an AI video of himself dropping poop on me from a fighter jet?" Sisson posted on X Sunday.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A Democratic U.S. senator has introduced a bill that would allow federal workers not being paid during the government shutdown to forgo their rent or mortgage payments, without penalty.
The bill, introduced by Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and 17 Democratic colleagues, would relieve workers and contractors from their obligations to pay rent, mortgages, insurance premiums and student loan payments during shutdowns, reports Reason.
In addition, it stays eviction and foreclosure proceedings for 30 days after the shutdown ends, with a penalty of fines or even jail time.
Said Schatz: "Right now, hundreds of thousands of federal workers, federal contractor employees, and their families don't know whether they'll be able to pay rent and make ends meet. Our bill will protect these workers and make sure they aren't harmed during this shutdown."
What Schatz does not mention is that once the shutdown ends, all back pay owed will go to those same federal workers — money that can be used to catch up with rental payments.
As Reason reports, a recent study published in the Journal of Urban Economics compared the strength of tenant protections to rents. It found that stronger tenant protections reduced evictions but also reduced vacancies and were correlated with higher rents and higher rates of homelessness.