California and 19 other states filed a federal lawsuit in Boston seeking to block President Donald Trump’s $100,000 fee on new H‑1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers. The states say the charge, announced in September, is unlawful and dramatically higher than the typical $2,000–$5,000 employers now pay. The Boston suit is at least the third legal challenge to the fee.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta argues the president lacks authority to impose the fee and that it violates federal law limiting immigration-related fees to amounts necessary to cover program administration. Bonta’s office warned the levy would burden providers of critical services—particularly education and healthcare—exacerbate labor shortages and force service reductions. Among the states joining California are New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, New Jersey and Washington.
The H‑1B program allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers for specialty occupations; the technology sector, concentrated in California, is a major user of H‑1B hires. The White House has defended the fee in other litigation, describing it as a lawful exercise of presidential authority intended to deter abuse of the H‑1B program.
Opponents are divided on the program’s impact. Critics contend H‑1B and similar visas can be used to replace American workers with lower-paid foreign hires. Business groups and many major companies counter that H‑1B workers are essential to fill shortages of qualified domestic applicants. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a coalition of unions, employers and religious organizations have also sued over the fee; a judge in Washington, D.C. is scheduled to hear the Chamber’s case next week.
Trump’s order bars new H‑1B recipients from entering the United States unless their sponsoring employer has paid the $100,000 fee. The administration says the order does not apply to existing H‑1B holders or to applicants who filed before Sept. 21. In the directive, the president invoked authority under federal immigration law to restrict entry of certain foreign nationals deemed detrimental to U.S. interests.
Bonta’s complaint emphasizes that the fee far exceeds the government’s cost to process H‑1B petitions and argues the Constitution prohibits the president from unilaterally imposing revenue-generating charges that are reserved to Congress. The pending lawsuits will test the scope of presidential authority over immigration fees and the legal limits on changing the H‑1B program by executive action.
