{"id":74620,"date":"2026-06-08T15:56:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T20:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/08\/federal-judge-strikes-down-trumps-100k-h-1b-visa-fee-ruling-it-an-unconstitutional-tax\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T15:56:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T20:56:49","slug":"federal-judge-strikes-down-trumps-100k-h-1b-visa-fee-ruling-it-an-unconstitutional-tax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/08\/federal-judge-strikes-down-trumps-100k-h-1b-visa-fee-ruling-it-an-unconstitutional-tax\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal judge strikes down Trump\u2019s $100K H-1B visa fee, ruling it an unconstitutional tax"},"content":{"rendered":"

A federal judge on Monday struck down President Donald Trump’s<\/a> $100,000 fee requirement for employers seeking H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers, ruling that the administration exceeded its authority by imposing what amounted to a tax that only Congress can authorize or delegate.<\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin, an Obama appointee, issued the ruling in a lawsuit filed by 20 states in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, according to court filings.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit, challenging the fee Trump announced in September, was led by California and named Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin<\/a>, whose department oversees the H-1B visa program, as a defendant. Several federal agencies involved in implementing and enforcing the policy were also named in the suit.<\/p>\n

As part of the ruling, Sorokin invalidated agency memoranda, guidance documents, website instructions, FAQs and fee schedules that established and enforced the $100,000 H-1B visa fee.<\/p>\n

TRUMP\u2019S $100K H-1B VISA OVERHAUL COULD HIT TECH GIANTS LIKE AMAZON AND MICROSOFT HARDEST<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

According to the filing, Sorokin ruled that the fee was designed to raise revenue from a lawful program and therefore functioned as a tax rather than a penalty, as the Trump administration had argued. Under the U.S. Constitution, the power to impose or delegate taxes<\/a> rests with Congress.<\/p>\n

“Here, the $100,000 payment requirement for all H-1B petitions does not aim to establish that hiring H-1B workers is illegal,” the filing said. “The payment is not a penalty… because it is not \u2018punishment for an unlawful act or omission.\u2019 Hiring workers pursuant to the H-1B program is plainly lawful.”<\/p>\n

VANCE TELLS BLUE STATE THEY \u2018MIGHT TRY HIRING AMERICANS\u2019 BEFORE SUING OVER TRUMP\u2019S VISA FEE EXPLOSION<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The fee also violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), which requires agencies to undergo a “notice-and-comment” period to gather public feedback, the judge ruled.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sorokin said the agencies that implemented and enforced the fee failed to adequately explain their reasoning, consider alternative options or assess the policy\u2019s potential consequences, and lacked a valid emergency or foreign-affairs justification for bypassing the process.<\/p>\n

“[T]he mere fact that Defendants followed a presidential directive<\/a> does not grant them free rein to ignore the requirements of the APA,” Sorokin wrote.<\/p>\n

ARE AMERICAN WORKERS BEING REPLACED? INSIDE THE H-1B VISA CONTROVERSY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

As of Feb. 15, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has received 85 payments of the $100,000 requirement, resulting in $8.5 million in payments, the administration said in a March filing.<\/p>\n

The H-1B program provides 65,000 visas<\/a> annually, with an additional 20,000 reserved for workers with advanced degrees, typically valid for three to six years, according to Reuters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Employers generally paid between $960 and $7,595 in fees prior to Trump\u2019s proclamation, court filings said.<\/p>\n

Trump introduced the fee last September, arguing the H-1B visa process was fueling the large-scale replacement of American workers<\/a> and had “undermined both our economic and national security.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

His move to address the issue drew widespread criticism from business and tech leaders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From 2024 through mid-2025, Amazon<\/span> received 19,301 H-1B approvals, more than any other major tech company, according to USCIS data. Microsoft also secured 9,914, while Apple received 8,075.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A federal judge on Monday struck down President Donald Trump’s $100,000 fee requirement for employers seeking H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers, ruling that the administration exceeded its authority by imposing what amounted to a tax that only Congress can authorize or delegate. U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin, an Obama appointee, issued the ruling … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74620\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}