The legal battle over the Trump administration’s immigration policies has intensified as the government announced it will formally appeal a federal court ruling that blocked its $100,000 H-1B visa application fee. Alongside the appeal notice, the Department of Justice (DOJ) warned technology firms and corporate employers nationwide not to exploit the visa system.
According to a report by CNBC, the legal response comes just three days after US District Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston delivered a blow to the White House by striking down the fee. Judge Sorokin ruled that President Donald Trump had exceeded his executive authority, and that the massive financial hike looked and functioned like a tax, which legally requires approval from Congress.
What the Justice Department said
The Justice Department fired back, signaling that it has no intention of backing down from the administration’s broader crackdown on foreign skilled labor.
“The Department of Justice is committed to protecting American workers and fully supports President Trump’s America First agenda,” a DOJ spokesperson told CNBC in a statement, adding, “Another court has already ruled in the Administration’s favor on this issue, and we will continue to hold companies accountable when they unlawfully exploit American workers and fail to use the H-1B program as intended.”
A squeeze on Silicon Valley
The H-1B visa program, originally created by Congress in 1990, allows American employers to hire high-skilled foreign workers in specialized occupations, such as software engineering, data science and technology research, for up to six years. Over the decades, this system has become the primary talent pipeline that allowed US tech giants to bring in top-tier international professionals.
Before President Trump took aim at the program, corporate application fees for an H-1B visa ranged from $2,000 to $5,000 per applicant. However, last September, Trump issued an executive order that altered the cost structure by raising the fee to $100,000. The administration justified the massive spike by arguing that corporations were abusing the visa program to hoard cheap foreign labor and replace qualified American workers.
