UPDATE: Judge Nukes Trump’s $100K Visa Grab

Judge’s gavel on a stack of U.S. hundred-dollar bills
JUDGE SLAMS TRUMP PLAN

A federal judge just ruled that Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa charge was never a fee at all — it was an illegal tax, and Congress never approved it.

Quick Take

  • U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin struck down Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee, calling it an unauthorized tax.
  • A coalition of 20 state attorneys general, led by California, brought the lawsuit that killed the policy.
  • The court found the White House had no legal authority from Congress to impose the charge.
  • The judge set aside the entire fee requirement — not just part of it — under federal administrative law.

Trump Imposed the Fee by Presidential Proclamation, Not by Law

On September 19, 2025, President Trump signed a proclamation ordering employers to pay $100,000 per H-1B visa application. [9] The H-1B program brings skilled foreign workers — engineers, doctors, researchers — into the United States temporarily. [10]

Employers, hospitals, and universities panicked almost immediately. The fee was not passed by Congress. It came straight from the White House, and that turned out to be the fatal flaw.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services moved quickly to put the fee into effect. [10] Employers who needed to file H-1B petitions faced a hard choice: pay the $100,000 or lose access to the workers they had already hired or planned to hire.

Healthcare systems warned the fee would shrink their physician pipelines. Tech companies said it would push hiring overseas. The pressure on the administration built fast. [4]

Twenty States Sued and a Federal Judge Agreed With Every Key Argument

California Attorney General Rob Bonta led a coalition of 20 state attorneys general to federal court. [7] The states argued the fee was unlawful, harmful to their economies, and beyond the president’s power to impose alone. They asked the court to declare the charge illegal and throw it out entirely. Judge Sorokin, a federal district judge in Boston, heard the case and sided with the states on every major point. [1]

Sorokin wrote that “the substance and application of the $100,000 payment reveal that it is a tax, regardless of what the payment is called.” [1] That one sentence is the heart of the ruling. A fee pays for a government service.

A tax raises money for broader public purposes and requires an act of Congress. Sorokin found this charge looked and worked like a tax — and the administration had no congressional approval to impose one. [3]

The Court Found No Legal Authority and No Reasonable Explanation

The ruling went beyond the tax question. Sorokin also found the administration failed to meet basic standards under the Administrative Procedure Act, the federal law that governs how agencies make rules. [1]

The court found the government never “reasonably explained” why $100,000 was the right number or how that figure connected to any legitimate policy goal. The record the administration submitted to the court simply did not hold up. [1]

Sorokin ordered the fee set aside in its entirety. [1] That is a full legal defeat, not a narrow technical fix. The administration cannot simply refile with better paperwork. It would need either a new legal theory that survives judicial review or an act of Congress actually authorizing the charge.

That is a much higher bar. It is worth noting that a separate judge had earlier ruled Trump could impose an H-1B fee under broad immigration law language — so this legal question is not fully settled and an appeal is possible. [8]

What This Ruling Actually Means for Employers and Workers

For hospitals, universities, and technology companies, the ruling removes an immediate financial barrier. Many employers had delayed or canceled H-1B filings because the $100,000 cost was simply not manageable. [4] Physicians trained abroad, software engineers, and researchers in specialized fields were caught in the middle. The ruling does not change the underlying H-1B program rules — it only removes the extra charge the proclamation imposed. [3]

From a legal standpoint, the ruling actually reinforces a principle worth defending: Congress controls the power to tax, not the executive branch. The Constitution is clear on that point. If the Trump administration wanted a $100,000 H-1B levy, the right move was to pass it through Congress, where the debate about immigration, labor markets, and American workers could happen in the open.

A presidential proclamation is not a substitute for that process, and the court was right to say so. The administration may appeal, and the circuit courts could see this differently — but the district court’s reasoning is grounded in basic separation-of-powers logic that transcends partisan lines.

Sources:

[1] Web – Judge voids Trump

[3] Web – Trump’s $100K fee for H-1B visas struck down | Higher Ed Dive

[4] Web – Trump admin’s $100K H-1B visa fee policy tossed by federal judge

[7] Web – Attorney General Bonta Sues Over Trump Administration’s Unlawful …

[8] Web – Trump can order employers to pay extra H-1B fee, court holds

[9] Web – Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers

[10] Web – USCIS Implements the H-1B Proclamation $100000 Fee

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