Federal judge voids Trump's $100,000 H-1B visa fee as unlawful tax

A federal judge on Monday struck down the Trump administration's $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas, ruling it an unconstitutional tax imposed without congressional approval.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston strikes at the administration's effort to dramatically curtail high-skilled foreign worker visas — a program that normally issues 65,000 visas a year — and could reopen a pathway that had been virtually shut down since the fee took effect last September.

U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin ruled the fee, introduced by the Trump administration in September, falls under the Constitution's Taxing and Spending Clause — and therefore requires an act of Congress, not an executive order.

"Here, the substance and application of the $100,000 payment reveal that it is a tax, regardless of what the payment is called," Sorokin wrote, according to The Korea Times.

The lawsuit was brought by 20 Democratic state attorneys general, who argued the administration had overstepped its authority by bypassing the legislature to impose what amounted to a new tax on visa applicants.

The H-1B program provides 65,000 visas per year, with an additional 20,000 set aside for holders of advanced degrees. Before the Trump rule, typical filing fees ranged from $2,000 to $5,000. The fee's chilling effect was immediate: by Feb. 15, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had recorded only 85 payments at the new rate, The Korea Times reported.

The Trump administration had argued the $100,000 charge was a monetary penalty — not a tax — that the president could impose under existing immigration law to restrict the entry of certain foreign nationals. Sorokin rejected that framing after reviewing the fee's practical substance and effect.

The administration had not publicly addressed a potential appeal as of the ruling's release. Sorokin was appointed to the federal bench by former President Barack Obama.