Overview
- California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell are leading the case filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
- The states say the fee bypassed required notice-and-comment procedures, exceeds the Department of Homeland Security’s authority, and unlawfully raises revenue reserved to Congress.
- President Trump’s Sept. 19 proclamation created the charge for new H‑1B entries on petitions filed after Sept. 21, with existing H‑1B holders and earlier applicants not covered.
- Plaintiffs warn the six-figure cost would strain hospitals, schools and universities during labor shortages, noting prior combined H‑1B fees typically ranged from about $960 to $7,595.
- The lawsuit joins earlier challenges from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and mixed coalitions, with a hearing in the Chamber’s Washington, D.C., case set next week as the fee remains in effect.