Judge strikes down Trump's $100K fee on new H-1B visas

A federal judge in Boston on Monday struck down President Donald Trump's $100K fee on new H-1B visas, ruling it constituted an unlawful tax that was never authorized by Congress.

Trump signed a proclamation in September that imposed the new fee on the program, which has been the target of immigration hawks for years. Critics have argued that large firms use the program to import cheap labor, mostly from India, to replace Americans.

U.S. District Court Judge Leo Sorokin ruled the fee was a tax and not a "regulatory payment" as the Trump administration has previously claimed and vacated the order, according to USA Today. 

"The substance and application of the $100,000 payment reveal that it is a tax, regardless of what the payment is called," Sorokin wrote in his 42-page ruling. "The Policy implementing the Proclamation is declared unlawful and is vacated in its entirety."

The ruling comes after a group of Democratic state attorneys general challenged the new fee in December, arguing it ran afoul of the Administrative Procedure Act.

White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers indicated in a statement to USA Today that the Trump administration will appeal the decision, stating that the administration is "confident this order will be reversed on appeal.”

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.