{"id":388,"date":"2026-06-09T16:08:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T16:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=388"},"modified":"2026-06-09T16:08:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T16:08:42","slug":"judge-blocks-trump-administrations-100k-h-1b-visa-fee-as-unlawful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=388","title":{"rendered":"Judge Blocks Trump Administration\u2019s $100K H-1B Visa \u201cFee\u201d as Unlawful"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Did you know that Truthout is a nonprofit and independently funded by readers like you? If you value what we do, please support our work with <\/span><\/i>a donation<\/span><\/i>.<\/p>\n

Read more House Rejects Ro Khanna\u2019s Effort to Block US-Israel Military Integration<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A federal judge has ruled that a massive increase on fees for potential immigrant workers to obtain H-1B visas is unlawful, saying that imposing the costly fee would amount to instituting a tax.<\/p>\n

Last year, President Donald Trump unilaterally signed an executive order imposing a $100,000 \u201cfee\u201d on H-1B visas, which are designed for highly skilled immigrant workers coming to the United States. Several states sued against the move, and on Monday, U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin, based in Boston, issued a ruling against Trump\u2019s directive.<\/p>\n

Sorokin found that the presidential action was in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, a law that defines which branches of government can engage in formal rulemaking. The judge also ruled that the increase in fees for the visa was really a tax in disguise. Under the rules of the Constitution, only Congress may impose or adjust taxes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe substance and application of the $100,000 payment reveal that it is a tax, regardless of what the \u200bpayment is called,\u201d . <\/p>\n

Sorokin also cited, as part of the precedent backing his ruling, a recent decision by the Supreme Court to strike down Trump\u2019s tariffs. Like the $100,000 \u201cfee,\u201d Trump had described those tariffs as necessary for emergency reasons, but the high court rejected that view, finding his tariffs to be unconstitutional taxes.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration, , had claimed \u201cthat the $100,000 payment requirement is \u2018a regulatory payment,\u2019 which is \u2018not the same as a tax.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Under Mamdani, New York Will Open a Free Child Care Center for City Workers<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is mere ipse dixit<\/em>,\u201d , citing the Latin legal phrase that roughly means an argument is unsupported or flawed. The administration offers \u201cno definition for what constitutes \u2018a regulatory payment,\u2019 cite[s] no cases or statutes employing the term, and advance[s] no reasoned argument explaining how this term encompasses something different than a tax or a penalty.\u201d<\/p>\n

The move to impose huge fees on H-1B visas, one initiative of many in Trump\u2019s anti-immigration agenda, had a significant impact. Before Trump\u2019s new \u201cfee\u201d went into place, the costs for that kind of visa were around $2,000 to $5,000. Due to the high increase, just 85 payments for H-1B visas have been made since the costs were increased, a dramatic decrease from the tens of thousands of applications that are usually filed each year. <\/p>\n

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, whose state was one of 20 involved in the lawsuit, praised Sorokin\u2019s ruling.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s victory protects the integrity of the H-1B visa program as a tool to address severe labor shortages in vital industries like education, healthcare, and medical research,\u201d Campbell said. <\/p>\n

Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us, a nonprofit organization that bills itself as \u201cworking to advance better and more politically resilient solutions on criminal justice and immigration,\u201d also praised the ruling.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s ruling upholds that the administration violated the Administrative Procedures Act and the Constitution by unlawfully levying a $100,000 fee on many H-1B visas,\u201d Schulte said in a press statement shared with Truthout<\/em>. \u201cThis effort would have harmed American job and wage growth and hurt the quality of life of Americans from their education to health care, and we call on the administration to reverse course and abandon this misguided policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Fired Journalist Says Bari Weiss Pushed to Air Propaganda on CBS News<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US District Judge Leo Sorokin found that the \u201cfee\u201d Trump imposed on the visa program was actually an unlawful tax.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nJudge Blocks Trump Administration\u2019s $100K H-1B Visa \u201cFee\u201d as Unlawful - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=388\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Judge Blocks Trump Administration\u2019s $100K H-1B Visa \u201cFee\u201d as Unlawful - 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