US federal judge overturns Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee

A United States (US) federal judge has overturned a policy introduced by President Donald Trump that imposed a $100,000 (approximately £78,000) fee on employers applying for H-1B visas.

In a ruling delivered in the US District Court in Massachusetts, Judge Leo Sorokin declared that the visa payment policy violated both the federal Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution.

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Judge Sorokin ruled in favour of the 20 states that brought the lawsuit, concluding that “the substance and application of the $100,000 payment reveal that it is a tax,” a power that Congress had not delegated to the executive branch of government.

The Trump administration has announced its intention to appeal against the decision.

Background to the policy

Established in 1990, the H-1B visa, is a classification of non-immigrant visa in the United States that allows US employers to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations scheme.

 

However, it has since been heavily utilised by major American technology companies to recruit highly skilled professionals from overseas. The programme enables these employers to obtain government authorisation to hire non-immigrant workers in specialised occupations for a period of up to six years.

President Trump introduced the $100,000 fee via a presidential proclamation last September to curb the programme.

He argued that widespread abuse of the policy had compromised American economic and national security by causing the “large-scale replacement of American workers.” Before this policy change, H-1B visa fees typically ranged between $2,000 and $5,000 per application.

Following Monday’s ruling, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers issued a statement defending the administration’s position:

“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.”

“The H-1B program has been abused for decades, and President Trump finally took action to fix it. A federal judge in Washington already upheld a nearly identical order, and the Administration is confident this order will be reversed on appeal,” Rogers said.

The legal challenge ruled on by Judge Sorokin was launched in December against the Trump administration and several senior officials. It sits alongside separate legal opposition; the US Chamber of Commerce filed its own lawsuit in October contesting the $100,000 H-1B visa policy.