The Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation listens to public comment at a public hearing at the George H.W. Bush State Office Building on Thursday, March 5, 2026 in Austin.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
Iris Yanez spent 12 months and $13,000 working toward a Texas hairdresser’s license. By the time she finished the requirements in early February, a quiet policy change by the state had already made her ineligible.
“I’m going to have two credentials that I’m not going to be able to use,” Yanez, who also has a state license for eyelash extensions, told the American-Statesman in Spanish.
Article continues below this ad
The 45-year-old was caught in a sudden shift by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation that now requires applicants to provide proof of legal authorization to be in the United States.
Yanez is one of potentially thousands of hairdressers, barbers, electricians and HVAC professionals across Texas who are ineligible to obtain or renew professional licenses after the state agency added the requirement in late January. The department’s commissioners could vote to make the policy final as early as March 24.
The agency says the change is meant to comply with a 1996 federal law signed by President Bill Clinton that bars states from providing public benefits to people without legal status unless a state legislature explicitly authorizes it — a law Texas largely did not enforce for decades.
Approximately 18,000 licenses — about 2% — are not attached to a Social Security number, according to TDLR data provided to the Statesman by state Sen. Judith Zaffirini’s office.
Article continues below this ad
Agency spokeswoman Caroline Espinosa told the Statesman the change was an attempt “to combat fraud, human trafficking and labor exploitation.” She declined to offer further explanation.
The state’s two Hispanic chambers of commerce have opposed TDLR’s move, as has the League of United Latin American Citizens. All say the change punishes immigrants who try to work within the system and threatens to move more of the immigrant economy underground, hurting the state’s tax rolls.
Owners of Texas cosmetology schools in immigrant-heavy communities told the Statesman the change has already slashed enrollment, in some cases cutting it by more than half.
TDLR’s change is similar to proposals by other state agencies, including the Texas Parks and Wildlife and Housing and Community Affairs departments.
Article continues below this ad
Texas Democrats, including Zaffrini and Mexican American Legislative Caucus chair Rep. Ramon Romero Jr., have suggested the changes are akin to political flexing. Romero described them as rule changes designed “to look tough on immigration rather than address real workforce needs.”
“When you push thousands of licensed workers out of the workforce, Texans will feel it through higher costs, longer wait times, and fewer services,” Romero added in a statement.
In a statement to the Statesman, the governor’s office embraced the rule change.
“Texas will not reward illegal immigration by issuing professional licenses to those here unlawfully,” wrote Andrew Malharis, the governor’s spokesman. “These changes protect the integrity of our licensing system, uphold federal law, and ensure jobs go to hardworking Texans.”
Article continues below this ad
The investment
For Yanez, becoming a hairdresser represented an improvement over her irregular work selling skin care products.
She imagined supplementing her husband’s income from painting cars at an auto body shop and contributing to one of her children’s college tuition.
In the first week of February, Yanez made the three-hour drive from Austin to Houston to finish her written and practical examinations for her haircutting license. The exams capped her 1,000 hours of state-required supervised practice.
Article continues below this ad
On her way there and back, she was afraid of being pulled over for a traffic stop and detained. But, “I wanted to do things the right way,” she said.
Cynthia Hernandez, owner of the North Austin beauty school Yanez graduated from, estimated that she has dozens of students who, like Yanez, have become ineligible for licenses.
Luis Zepeda, owner of The Men Barber School, at the barbershop in Round Rock, March 11, 2026. Zepeda is concerned about the impact of Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation’s new requirement of a social security number for licensing applications and renewals, which critics say may push immigrants working in industries like Zepeda’s underground.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
A few miles north, Luis Zepeda, owner of a Round Rock barber school that predominantly serves immigrants, said the requirements would make more than half of his 50 students ineligible for licenses.
Article continues below this ad
To stay afloat, Zepeda said he’s considering cutting three to four instructor positions. To keep discouraged students in school, he’s offered them tuition discounts.
But he’s also tried to be upfront with prospective students who have lost eligibility, he said.
Previously, he’d pitched the possibility for students to follow their interest in entrepreneurship and style and explained the economics behind renting chairs in a barber shop or salon. He now says he no longer feels certain about his promises.
“They say, ‘I’d rather work illegally in a restaurant or construction than go to school and work illegally as a barber. I’m better as I am.’ And they’re right,” Zepeda said.
Article continues below this ad
Luis Zepeda, owner of The Men Barber School, at the barbershop in Round Rock, March 11, 2026. Zepeda is concerned about the impact of Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation’s new requirement of a social security number for licensing applications and renewals, which critics say may push immigrants working in industries like Zepeda’s underground.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
Going underground
Texas Hispanic business leaders vehemently opposed the rule change during a testimony session before the department’s commission on March 5, calling it unnecessary, political and damaging to the state’s tax rolls.
J.R. Gonzales, vice chair of the Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Commerce, called the change “an assault” on Hispanics and argued that removing license-holders will simply grow the state’s underground economy with no benefit to the state.
Article continues below this ad
Barbers will move their businesses out of brick-and-mortar establishments and into their own houses, and HVAC technicians will have no incentive to continue working for licensed companies, Gonzales said.
“You’re not going to tell me that someone who knows air conditioners for more than 15 years is going to stop working on them because you told them not to,” Gonzales said. “If you take it away from them they’re going to find a way to do this illegally.”
No one at the testimony hearing spoke in favor of the rule change, though other testimony submitted online will be made public once the rule is published.
Sujeeth Draksharam listens to public comment during a Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation public hearing at the George H.W. Bush State Office Building on Thursday, March 5, 2026 in Austin.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
The one commissioner present in-person at the hearing, Sujeeth Draksharam, declined to respond to the Statesman’s questions, saying only that the commission would consider the testimony it had heard.
Article continues below this ad
Along with representatives of other Hispanic chambers of commerce, Gonzales called for the commission to find middle ground between what he believes is a concern of closing possible loopholes and protecting license holders who have already complied with existing requirements — perhaps by grandfathering in those who already secured licenses.
But the current change, he said, is “just mean.”