By Madlin Mekelburg | Bloomberg News
A group of states announced they are suing the Trump administration to block a $100,000 fee for any new applications for H-1B visas, which allow employers in the US to hire skilled foreign workers.
The lawsuit, which was filed Friday, argues that the fee creates a costly and illegal barrier for employers to use the popular visa program, particularly in the public sector. They also contend that the dollar figure was set arbitrarily and exceeds the fee-setting authority afforded by Congress. The case is being led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell.
“What Congress has never done is authorize a president to impose a six-figure surcharge designed to dismantle the program entirely,” Bonta said during a news conference announcing the suit. “The bottom line is: no presidential administration can re-write immigration law.”
The lawsuit would be at least the third challenging the fee increase, which Trump announced in September, but the first complaint by US states. The US Chamber of Commerce sued in October, as did a global nurse-staffing agency and several unions. Both cases are ongoing.
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers defended the fee as lawful and called it “a necessary, initial, incremental step towards necessary reforms to the H-1B program.”
“President Trump promised to put American workers first, and his commonsense action on H-1B visas does just that by discouraging companies from spamming the system and driving down American wages, while providing certainty to employers who need to bring the best talent from overseas,” she said in a statement.
The H-1B visa program is a cornerstone of employment-based immigration. It allows companies based in the US to hire college-educated foreign workers for specialized occupations. Trump announced an overhaul of the program in September, arguing that abuse of the H-1B pathway has displaced US workers.
H-1B visas are awarded based on a lottery system, but they are used primarily by the tech industry. Companies with the greatest number of H-1B visas include Amazon, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Microsoft, Meta Platforms Inc. and Apple Inc., according to the US government.
The attorneys general suing to block the fee argued it would be especially detrimental in key public sectors, including education and health care.
“The administration’s illegal attempt to ruin this program will make it harder for New Yorkers to get health care, disrupt our children’s education, and hurt our economy,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
In addition to California, Massachusetts and New York, the states challenging the fee include Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
–With assistance from Jennifer A. Dlouhy.
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