BOSTON – On Monday, a federal judge overturned the Trump administration’s imposition of a $100,000 charge on new H-1B visas, a move that reverses an earlier court decision supporting the fee increase.
The administration had introduced this hefty fee intending to curb the employment of foreign workers in positions that could be filled by American citizens.
However, U.S. District Court Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston ruled against this policy, siding with 20 states. He determined that the administration overstepped its bounds, violating the Administrative Procedure Act, which outlines the processes for federal agencies to establish and implement regulations.
In his decision, Judge Sorokin noted, “The Court finds that the Policy imposes a tax on H-1B petitions without the requisite delegation by Congress.”
H-1B visas are primarily allocated for highly skilled positions where American candidates are scarce. Technology firms, which heavily rely on these visas, account for nearly 75% of allocations to Indian nationals. The states contended that the increased fee compounded the challenges of recruiting essential professionals like doctors and educators through the H-1B program.
Most H-1B visa applications cost several thousand dollars before the announced increase set off a wave of panic among confused employers, students and workers in the United States and abroad and led to several lawsuits, including in Boston.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also sued, in federal court in Washington, D.C., and has appealed a denial of a summary judgment against the fee hike. That left the higher fee in effect, at least until September 2026, when it is scheduled to expire. Monday’s ruling is also a summary judgment, to the opposite effect. Still another lawsuit was filed in federal court in San Francisco, by religious groups and labor organizations, setting up the possibility of divided rulings in three appellate court circuits.
The states argued that the policy impedes their ability to hire primary and secondary school educators and to staff public colleges and universities, will stymie academic research and will lead to a decline in medical workers.
“The Proclamation makes various overtures to domestic economic policy goals to justify the unprecedented $100,000 fee,” plaintiffs wrote in their complaint. “But the Proclamation gives no indication that the President gave any consideration to how the fee would affect Plaintiff States and their ability to provide their residents access to education, healthcare, and other basic human needs.”
A Department of Homeland Security statement said the agency disagrees with “this blatant judicial activism dismantling President Trump’s historic efforts for immigration reform.”
“Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, our immigration system is being reformed to serve American citizens, American workers, and American families and to preserve our national identity — not to rapidly import foreigners who take American jobs, commit crimes, burden our welfare system, and erode our cultural and social fabric.”
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