Overview
- A U.S. district judge in Boston, Leo T. Sorokin, blocked and annulled the $100,000 charge on new H‑1B petitions Monday after ruling it functioned as an illegal tax that the president lacked authority to impose.
- Sorokin wrote that the charge was not a routine administrative fee and violated limits on executive power and the Administrative Procedure Act, because Congress never authorized such a levy.
- The lawsuit that produced the ruling was brought by a coalition led by California and about 19 other state attorneys general who argued the fee would hamper states’ ability to hire teachers, nurses and other essential workers.
- The White House has signaled it will appeal the decision and several parallel lawsuits, including one by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, remain active so the policy’s final fate will be decided in higher courts.
- Before the proclamation the typical employer cost per H‑1B petition was roughly $2,000–$5,000 and USCIS had reported only a handful of $100,000 payments by mid‑February, a pattern that shows the charge already deterred petitioning and could reshape hiring at tech firms, hospitals and universities if it returns on appeal.