A federal judge has struck down the Trump administration’s plan to impose a $100,000 fee on certain new H-1B visa applications.
Judge Leo Sorokin of the Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts blocked the fee nationwide, ruling June 8 that the executive branch exceeded its legal authority.
“The court finds that the policy imposes a tax on H-1B petitions without the requisite delegation by Congress,” Sorokin wrote in his 42-page opinion.
The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by 20 states that argued the fee harmed employers, educational institutions, healthcare providers, and state economies that depend on highly skilled foreign workers.
The suit was one of at least three challenging the fee, which took effect in September and represented a significant shift in the administration of the H-1B visa program.
Sorokin concluded that the fee functioned as a tax rather than a legitimate regulatory charge, which the Trump administration claimed.
“The substance and application of the $100,000 payment reveal that it is a tax, regardless of what the payment is called,” the judge wrote.
The judge also determined that the policy violated the Administrative Procedure Act, the federal law governing how agencies develop and implement regulations.
According to the ruling, the administration failed to demonstrate that existing immigration statutes granted authority to impose such a substantial financial requirement on visa petitions.
The decision immediately bars...
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