Nick Plumb has shared his views on X, posting early findings from his analysis of H-1B-related state contractor data in Texas. He said the data is based on a small set of contracts from the state’s Health and Human Services Commission and pointed to patterns he found important.
“Quick update on the H-1B state contractor analysis and a preview from a small subset of parsed HHSC Contracts.
The most interesting finding (to me) so far:
A single H-1B dependent contractor received payment for $10,460,376.99 in staffing contracts from the state of Texas since Greg Abbott has been in office. In only 12 days of April 2026, they’ve netted $309,113.
They also received over $2.7M in forgiven PPP loans and approval for at least 35 H-1B workers.
The images below are just a snapshot of recent HHSC state contracts for IT Staffing Augmentation – only one job has a billable rate below $90 an hour.
READ: ‘Side hustles’ on H-1B? Hidden risks and where immigration law draws the line (April 9, 2026)
Also of note – most of the ‘workers’ names I’ve searched list different employers on LinkedIn than the contractor reporting them as the assigned worker. It almost makes you think that many of these people are either not actually working on these contracts or they can’t say they are because their H-1B visa was sponsored by a different employer. However, some also show a location in India – so who knows…
@GregAbbott_TX how much more of this do you need to see?”
His post comes at a time when the H-1B visa program is already being widely discussed. The program, run by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, allows companies in the U.S. to hire foreign workers for skilled jobs, especially in tech and engineering. Over the years, reviews by agencies like the U.S. Government Accountability Office have pointed out issues such as pay gaps, outsourcing layers, and difficulty in tracking workers at third-party job sites.
There have also been concerns around pandemic relief funds like the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which was managed by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Some investigations found cases where funds were misused or wrongly forgiven, although not every case involved wrongdoing.
In Texas, big IT staffing contracts often go through several companies before reaching the final worker, especially in agencies like the Health and Human Services Commission. Experts say this kind of system can make it harder to know exactly who is doing the work.
Plumb’s post quickly got strong reactions online. One commenter tagged a Texas lawmaker and wrote, “this has to get addressed next session. Why do I have to pay huge property taxes when fraud pays so well?
Jail every last one of them. Forever.”
Others shared their own experiences and frustrations. One user wrote, “I work for a TX state agency and we’re using contractors for a database replacement project. It’s around a dozen people, all foreign. They ate mostly Indian with 1 Nigerian. We are one year behind schedule.” Another said, “You ought to try competing with them as a software engineer… fraud and every company gets a cut.”
READ: H-1B visa demand falls: Walmart, Amazon, JPMorgan Chase cut hiring (April 10, 2026)
Replying to one comment, Plumb referred to his own background in tech, saying, “I was an L7 at Amazon until the last wave of layoffs. So needless to say, I’m well aware of how they operate.”
His claims are based on limited data and have not been independently verified. Still, the conversation around his post shows how concerns about H-1B workers, government contracts, and public spending continue to spark debate, especially in large IT projects.