The Trump administration is facing a new lawsuit over the president’s decision to begin charging $100,000 for new H-1B visa applications.
In a new complaint filed Thursday, the conservative-leaning U.S. Chamber of Commerce accused the Departments of Homeland Security and State of causing damage to small- and medium-sized businesses by instigating the new fee, which the chamber also said was breaking the law.
“The new $100,000 visa fee will make it cost-prohibitive for U.S. employers, especially start-ups and small and midsize businesses, to utilize the H-1B program, which was created by Congress expressly to ensure that American businesses of all sizes can access the global talent they need to grow their operations here in the U.S.,” Neil Bradley, executive vice president and chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber, said in a statement.
While the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State are the agencies targeted by the lawsuit, DHS referred to the White House. Spokesperson Taylor Rogers defended President Donald Trump’s H-1B plan.
“The Administration’s actions are lawful and are a necessary, initial, incremental step towards necessary reforms to the H-1B program,” she told Newsweek.
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump’s new H-1B fee immediately caused concern among immigration attorneys, foreign workers, and the tech industry, which largely benefits from the program, but the warning from a conservative group adds new voices to the concerns that White House immigration policies are leading to potential damage to the U.S. economy, from farming to big tech.
What To Know
The U.S. Chamber says in its filing in the District of Columbia that the country is “unique in its ability” to attract talent from around the world, and that the H-1B work visa has played a vital role in making that happen.
It goes on to refer to the thousands of immigrants who are granted short-term legal status each year – a point of contention which has seen growing calls for the program to be restricted, rather than lauded.
“These workers allow businesses of all sizes, in industries across the economy, to innovate and grow,” the chamber argued. “The resulting innovations lead to more American jobs, higher wages, and new products and services that improve the quality of life for all Americans.”
If Trump’s new $100,000 fee for new applicants is fully enacted, the Chamber warns that significant harm would be inflicted on the companies reliant on foreign talent. The group appeared to hold the view that there was not enough domestic talent, or cost-effective labor, sitting waiting to take the place of lost H-1B holders.
While those views have been hotly debated among lawmakers and immigration experts on both sides, the crux of the lawsuit is also whether Trump has the legal authority to even change the fee being charged for the H-1B.
“The Proclamation is not only misguided policy; it is plainly unlawful,” the complaint reads. “The President has significant authority over the entry of noncitizens into the United States, but that authority is bounded by statute and cannot directly contradict laws passed by Congress.”
Those laws include rules over fee setting. That power technically belongs to Congress, not the president, and the Chamber wants to see official channels followed. That usually includes U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) laying out its costs, which then determine how much immigrants pay for their applications.
While the Chamber has its concerns about the H-1B changes, it did make a point of praising Trump for his efforts on securing the U.S.-Mexico border – with illegal crossings at record lows. They repeated support for some of the president’s other fiscal policies, but warned that cutting off legal immigration by charging high fees would hinder U.S. economic growth.
That warning comes a few days after the Federal Reserve also raised concerns about the impact of immigration enforcement on the economy, while the Department of Labor has also admitted that farms are facing issues as federal agents detain undocumented workers.
What People Are Saying
Bradley, in his statement Thursday: “The president deserves credit for securing our nation’s border. With the border secure, we now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to accomplish targeted legal immigration reforms, and we stand ready to work with Congress and the administration to make that happen.
“That includes working together on common-sense reforms to improve the visa process for skilled workers. The president has said he wants to educate, attract, and retain the world’s best and brightest in the U.S., and the Chamber shares that goal.”
Taylor Rogers, White House spokesperson, told Newsweek: “President Trump promised to put American workers first, and his commonsense action on H1-B visas does just that by discouraging companies from spamming the system and driving down American wages, while providing certainty to employers who need to bring the best talent from overseas.”
Senator Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, in a statement on his planned H-1B reforms, September 29: “Major companies are laying off thousands of American workers while filing thousands of visa petitions for foreign workers at depressed wages and poor working conditions. Congress must step in to protect American workers and fix our broken immigration system. Senator Grassley and I will work to make this bipartisan bill the law of the land.”
What’s Next
The $100,000 fee, while announced by the president, has not appeared to be in full effect just yet, with many attorneys reporting that they have not been able to pay it when submitting new applications.
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