A federal judge on Monday annulled a $100,000 fee imposed by United States President Donald Trump for new H-1B visas aimed at highly qualified foreign workers, concluding that it constitutes an illegal tax not authorized by Congress.
District Judge Leo Sorokin of Boston handed down the ruling in 🏽 lawsuit filed by 20 Democratic attorneys general from different states, challenging the fee announced by Trump in September that drastically increased the cost of obtaining H-1B visas.
The government argued that the fee constitutes a legal monetary penalty that the president is authorized to impose under federal immigration law, which gives him the power to restrict entry to certain aliens when he deems it ‘harmful to the interests of the United States.’
Sorokin concluded that the fee is not a penalty, but a tax that has not received congressional endorsement to be levied. It also assessed that the US Department of State and US Citizenship and Immigration Services could not implement the fee.
“Here, the substance and application of the $100,000 payment reveal that it is a tax, regardless of what the payment is called,” wrote Sorokin, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama.
The judge cited the US Supreme Court ruling in February that struck down sweeping tariffs imposed by Trump under a law intended to be used in national emergencies. Under the logic of the justices’ decision in that case, Trump also did not have the authority under immigration law to impose a tax, Sorokin said.
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White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement that the Trump administration is confident Sorokin’s order will be reversed on appeal.
“President Trump has clear legal authority to restrict entry to any class of aliens that he determines is not in the best interests of the United States, and that is exactly what he has done,” she said.
The H-1B program offers 65,000 visas annually, with an additional 20,000 visas for workers with advanced education, approved for a period of three to six years. Tech companies, in particular, rely heavily on workers receiving H-1B visas.
Before Trump’s move, employers applying for a visa for a foreign worker typically paid between $2,000 and $5,000 in fees, depending on several factors. This fee will not apply to visas granted to foreign citizens who are already in the United States on student visas, a large portion of new H-1B visa beneficiaries.
The fee increase has discouraged H-1B visa applications, according to court documents. As of Feb. 15, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had received just 85 payments of the $100,000 fee, the government said in a filing in March.
