Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee blocked by judge

A federal judge blocked the Trump administration's plan to impose a $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications on October 1, 2020. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that the fee, intended to fund job retraining programs for American workers displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic, constituted an unauthorized tax. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had announced the fee in August 2020, stating it would apply to employers seeking to hire foreign workers under the H-1B visa program. The judge's decision, issued in Washington D.C., found that Congress did not grant DHS the authority to implement such a substantial fee, which was significantly higher than typical application processing fees. This ruling effectively suspended the implementation of the proposed fee, preventing it from going into effect as scheduled. The administration had argued the fee was a necessary measure to protect American jobs during an economic downturn.