A federal court in Boston has struck down the Trump administration’s controversial $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas, ruling that the measure amounted to a tax imposed without congressional approval.
The decision came in a lawsuit brought by a coalition of 20 Democratic-led states challenging a presidential proclamation issued in September that dramatically increased the cost of hiring foreign professionals through the H-1B program. The visa category is widely used by technology companies and other industries seeking highly skilled workers from abroad.
U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin concluded that the administration’s attempt to characterize the payment as a penalty could not withstand scrutiny. In his ruling, he found that the fee functioned as a tax in both purpose and effect, placing it beyond the president’s authority absent clear authorization from Congress.
The administration had argued that federal immigration law grants the president broad powers to restrict the entry of foreign nationals when deemed harmful to U.S. interests. Government lawyers maintained that the $100,000 payment was a lawful tool tied to those powers.
The court disagreed. Judge Sorokin said the substance of the charge—not the label attached to it—determined its legal character. He held that neither the State Department nor U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services could enforce the fee because the president lacked the authority to create it.
In reaching that conclusion, the judge pointed to a recent Supreme Court ruling that curtailed the administration’s use of emergency powers to impose sweeping tariffs. According to the court, the same principle applied here: executive authority does not extend to creating taxes without congressional backing.
The White House signaled an immediate challenge to the decision, insisting that the president acted within the powers granted by immigration law. Administration officials said they are confident the ruling will be overturned on appeal.
The H-1B program currently allocates 65,000 visas annually, along with an additional 20,000 reserved for individuals holding advanced degrees. Before the new policy, employers typically paid several thousand dollars in government fees to sponsor a worker. The $100,000 charge represented a dramatic increase.
When announcing the policy, President Donald Trump argued that the H-1B system had been misused by employers seeking cheaper labor at the expense of American workers. The fee, however, did not apply to many foreign graduates already studying in the United States, a group that accounts for a significant share of new H-1B recipients.
The steep cost appears to have sharply limited participation. Government records filed earlier this year showed that only 85 employers had paid the fee several months after it took effect.
The administration has simultaneously pursued other changes to the visa system, including stricter screening procedures and proposals that would give preference to applicants with higher salaries and advanced skills.
The $100,000 fee has faced multiple legal challenges. Business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have also contested the policy in separate litigation.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who led the coalition of states in the Boston case, welcomed the ruling, describing the fee as an unlawful burden that threatened the country’s ability to attract global talent. He argued that access to highly skilled professionals remains critical to meeting workforce demands and sustaining economic growth.
For now, the court’s decision halts one of the most aggressive attempts to reshape the H-1B program through executive action, though the legal battle is expected to continue in the appellate courts.
