A federal judge has invalidated President Donald Trump’s $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa petitions, ruling that the administration overstepped its authority by imposing an unauthorized tax without Congress’s approval. US District Judge Leo T. Sorokin of Massachusetts supported a coalition of 20 states in challenging the policy and nullified it nationwide. The judge stated that the policy imposed a tax on H-1B petitions without the necessary delegation by Congress, emphasizing that there were no statutory powers permitting the administration to enforce a $100,000 tax on such petitions.
The decision overturns a September 2025 presidential proclamation that mandated employers filing new H-1B petitions to pay an additional $100,000. The administration’s argument that the H-1B program was misused to displace American workers and depress wages in crucial sectors like science, technology, engineering, and mathematics was refuted by the states. They argued that this measure would hinder public schools, universities, and healthcare systems from recruiting skilled foreign professionals, exacerbating existing staffing shortages. The court agreed that the policy posed a threat to hiring in education, academic research, and healthcare sectors.
Judge Sorokin dismissed the administration’s claim that broad presidential powers under immigration law justified the fee as a condition for entering the US. He highlighted that while the Executive has discretion over alien admission and exclusion, it is not unlimited and must comply with constitutional and statutory constraints. The judge concluded that the fee was an unauthorized tax, not a legitimate immigration restriction, as contended by the government.
The court found that federal agencies violated the Administrative Procedure Act by implementing the policy without the required notice-and-comment rulemaking process. It was deemed arbitrary and capricious, with agencies failing to adequately justify the substantial cost increase for employers. As a remedy, the judge deemed the policy unlawful and nullified all agency actions enforcing the payment requirement.
