'Only 70': Who is paying the $100,000 fee for hiring H-1B workers? Trump administration informs court

In an ongoing lawsuit over the $100,000 fee for hiring skilled workers from foreign countries, as imposed by the Donald Trump administration, the administration informed a court that only 70 employees have so far paid the fee since it was imposed in September. The number is not huge and in fact rather low and that's why this can't be seen as a revenue-generating measure for the government and thus it does not require Congressional authorization Department of Justice attorney Tiberius Davis said in a court hearing.

The lawsuit is on whether the imposition of the fee for a visa program is legal. Global Nurse Force, a nurse recruiting firm, among other plaintiffs, filed the lawsuit claiming that the fee makes it difficult for small employers to hire through the specialty occupation visa program.




They called the fee arbitrary and capricious and argued in its suit that Congress only allowed for immigration fees to cover the cost of administering programs. They said this should have come after notice-and-comment procedures but the government attorney said that the fee was notified through a presidentil proclamation and not an executive order and so did not need the comment period.

This Oakland lawsuit is separate from the one brought by the US Chamber of Commerce, in which a federal judge already denied an injunction.

Attorneys in the Oakland case and in the Chamber’s appeal at the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit have said the recent US Supreme Court decision striking down President Donald Trump’s global tariffs regime bolsters challenges to the H-1B fee. Justices found the Constitution’s framers gave Congress, not the executive, taxing powers, Bloomberg reported.

The visa fee has become a contentious issue as Silicon Valley companies majorly depend on the H-1B visa program to hire from outside of the country. The move was aimed at reducing this dependence and instead opening up jobs for Americans.