A three-judge federal panel declined to suspend a lower court ruling that found the administration imposed an unauthorized tax on employers seeking new visas for highly skilled foreign workers.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A federal appeals court on Friday refused to revive the Trump administration’s $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas, leaving in place a lower court decision that found the charge exceeded presidential authority.
The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the administration’s request to pause a June 8 ruling while the case proceeds. That earlier decision came in a lawsuit brought by 20 Democratic state attorneys general and concluded that the fee amounted to a tax Congress had never authorized.
The three-judge appellate panel, composed entirely of judges appointed by Democratic presidents, said the administration had not demonstrated that it was likely to prevail on its argument that the president possessed the authority to impose the charge.
President Donald Trump announced the fee through a proclamation in September, sharply increasing the cost for employers applying for new H-1B visas. Before the change, companies generally paid between $2,000 and $5,000, depending on the application and associated charges.
The H-1B program makes 65,000 visas available each year, along with an additional 20,000 for foreign workers holding advanced degrees. The visas generally remain valid for three to six years and are heavily used by technology companies seeking skilled employees from abroad.
Trump said the higher fee was necessary because the program “has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor.”
The $100,000 charge did not apply to foreign nationals already in the United States on student visas, a group that accounts for a significant share of new H-1B recipients.
Relatively few employers paid the fee after it took effect, and the latest court decision prevents the administration from broadly enforcing it while the legal challenge continues.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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