A federal judge has invalidated the Trump administration’s $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications, ruling that the charge amounted to an unauthorized tax that Congress never approved.
U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin issued the decision Monday in a lawsuit brought by 20 Democratic state attorneys general challenging the policy announced by President Donald Trump in September.
In a ruling finding that the executive branch exceeded its authority, Sorokin concluded the fee violated the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs how federal agencies develop and implement regulations.
“The Court finds that the Policy imposes a tax on H-1B petitions without the requisite delegation by Congress,” Sorokin wrote, the Associated Press reported.
The judge determined that the payment functioned as a tax rather than a regulatory penalty, meaning federal agencies, including the State Department and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, lacked authority to impose it without congressional approval.
“Here, the substance and application of the $100,000 payment reveal that it is a tax, regardless of what the payment is called,” Sorokin wrote, per The Hill.
Congressional leaders have been divided on H-1B visa workers, with some arguing for expanding the program and others calling for it to be phased out, as The Dallas Express previously reported.
The fee represented a dramatic increase from the previous cost of obtaining an H-1B visa, which generally ranged from about $2,000 to $5,000 depending on the circumstances of the application. The administration argued the higher charge would discourage employers from hiring foreign workers in place of Americans.
Administration officials maintained that Trump had authority under federal immigration law to restrict entry by foreign nationals deemed contrary to U.S. interests. The White House indicated it plans to challenge the ruling.
“President Trump has clear legal authority to restrict entry of any class of aliens he determines is not in America’s best interests, and that is exactly what he did,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said, per the Washington Post. “The H-1B program has been abused for decades, and President Trump finally took action to fix it.”
The H-1B program allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations that require advanced knowledge or specialized skills. The program issues 65,000 visas annually, with an additional 20,000 available to applicants holding advanced degrees. Approved workers can remain in the United States for three to six years.
Technology companies are among the largest users of the visa program, and nearly three-quarters of approved H-1B visas are granted to workers from India.
The states that challenged the fee argued the policy would make it more difficult to recruit professionals in fields already facing labor shortages, including education and healthcare. They contended that hiring doctors, teachers, and academic researchers through the H-1B program was challenging even before the fee increase took effect.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell welcomed the ruling, saying, “Today’s victory protects the integrity of the H-1B visa program as a tool to address severe labor shortages in vital industries like education, healthcare, and medical research.”
“In Massachusetts, this win will ensure we can fill critical vacancies and hire world-class faculty and researchers at colleges and universities across the Commonwealth,” she added, AP reported.
American Medical Association President Bobby Mukkamala also praised the decision.
“At a time when communities across the country face physician shortages and growing barriers to care, we should be removing obstacles — not creating new ones — to attract talented physicians and other highly skilled professionals,” Mukkamala said, per AP. “International medical graduates play a vital role in caring for patients, particularly in underserved and rural areas.”
The Department of Homeland Security criticized the ruling, saying it disagreed with “this blatant judicial activism dismantling President Trump’s historic efforts for immigration reform.”
The legal battle is likely to continue. The administration is expected to appeal, and separate lawsuits challenging the fee remain pending in other federal courts.
Court filings indicate the policy significantly reduced demand for the visas. According to a March filing by the administration, only 85 payments of the $100,000 fee had been received by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services as of Feb. 15.
The fee did not apply to foreign nationals already in the United States on student visas, a group that accounts for a substantial portion of new H-1B recipients.
