Source reporting: Dallas Express
Federal labor records link 193 requested H-1B positions to the Texas Department of Transportation through filings made by private employers, according to a Dallas Express audit of Department of Labor disclosure data.
The outlet reported that 46 certified labor condition applications filed by 33 companies either named TxDOT as a secondary entity or listed a recognized department address. The federal files were cumulative through June 30, 2026. CGI Technologies and Solutions accounted for 151 of the positions, primarily involving software development and quality-testing work.
A certified labor condition application is an employer attestation concerning proposed positions, wages and worksites. It is generally one step in a separate H-1B petition process. The records do not establish that all 193 positions were filled, that the workers received visa status, that they entered the United States or that they performed work for TxDOT.
The timing raises an oversight question because Gov. Greg Abbott’s January 27 directive restricts covered state agencies and public universities from filing new H-1B petitions without Texas Workforce Commission approval through May 31, 2027. The Dallas Express found that applications representing 129 positions were received after the directive and that 182 positions listed intended start dates after it.
However, every application in the audit named a private company—not TxDOT—as the employer and petitioner. The directive and published TWC guidance address filings by state agencies and universities but do not expressly state that private contractors must obtain permission before petitioning for their own employees. The available data therefore do not establish that TxDOT violated the governor’s order.
Applications representing 187 positions listed one of two recognized TxDOT addresses in Austin. Other filings named the agency while listing locations elsewhere, potentially reflecting remote work. The disclosure files do not include badge records, timesheets or TxDOT confirmation of where individual employees actually worked.
The report also found that the Texas Department of Information Resources lists CGI on active statewide contracts. A historical TxDOT purchase order authorized $100.5 million for CGI’s TxDOTCONNECT system, but its final extension ended in December 2025. The Dallas Express did not identify a current purchase order tying the 2026 applications to that project.
The public-integrity issue is the gap between visa filings and state contracting records. Current rosters, work authorizations, invoices and selection records would be needed to determine how many workers served TxDOT, which contracts funded them and what taxpayers paid.