A multistate lawsuit challenges the legality of the administration’s newly imposed H-1B fee, arguing it oversteps executive authority and disrupts public-sector hiring.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Twenty states have sued the Trump administration over a newly imposed $100,000 fee on H-1B visas, setting up a major legal confrontation over executive power, immigration policy, and labor regulation.
The lawsuit targets a policy implemented by President Trump in mid-September that dramatically raises the cost of filing an H-1B petition. The administration has said the fee is intended to curb what it describes as “systematic abuse” of the high-skilled visa program and to protect U.S. workers in fields such as science, technology, and engineering.
“President Trump’s illegal $100,000 H-1B visa fee creates unnecessary—and illegal—financial burdens on California public employers and other providers of vital services, exacerbating labor shortages in key sectors,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.
According to the complaint, the states argue the fee violates the U.S. Constitution because it was imposed without congressional authorization and without following the required notice-and-comment rulemaking process. The lawsuit contends that Congress, not the executive branch, has authority over how the H-1B program is structured and administered.
The states further allege that the administration could selectively enforce the fee against employers it disfavors, creating uncertainty and instability across labor markets. They argue the policy will worsen staffing shortages in critical areas, particularly education and public services that rely on specialized workers.
The plaintiffs include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
The H-1B visa system has been a frequent target of the Trump administration as part of a broader overhaul of immigration and labor policy. Administration officials have repeatedly criticized the program, arguing it has been used by some employers to undercut wages and displace American workers, particularly in the technology sector.
Government data cited by critics of the program show that India accounted for 71 percent of all approved H-1B visas last year, with China representing 11.7 percent. During the first half of 2025, Amazon.com and its cloud-computing unit AWS received approval for more than 12,000 H-1B visas, while Microsoft and Meta Platforms were each granted more than 5,000 approvals.
Federal enforcement actions have also intensified. At the beginning of last month, officials announced that close to 200 companies were under investigation for alleged abuse of the H-1B system. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-Deremer later said 175 investigations were actively underway.
Those investigations fall under an enforcement initiative known as “Project Firewall,” which was launched in September alongside the announcement of the $100,000 H-1B fee. Chavez-Deremer said the effort is focused on ensuring compliance with labor protections and prioritizing American workers.
“We have over 175 investigations that we’ve opened, and for the first time in history, as a Secretary of Labor, I have signed those investigations personally, because we want to make sure that these companies are not abusing,” Chavez-Deremer said. “We want to make sure that they’re protecting the American worker, first by one: posting the jobs available to Americans.
“Two: if they do need to use the H-1B Visa Program, within the program, we have to make sure that they’re paying those fair wages, not to depress the American wages. And if that employee leaves that company, they have to make sure that they’re posting that with the government so that we know where those employers have gone and those employees.
“So it’s been somewhat of a problem, but we want to protect the American worker first, and Project Firewall will do that. We will be actively investigating these companies if they’re getting in the way of protecting foreign workers over American ones.”
The lawsuit represents the most direct legal challenge yet to the administration’s effort to reshape the H-1B program through executive action, placing the future of the $100,000 fee—and potentially broader visa reforms—before the federal courts.
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