(AURN News) — A federal judge in Boston struck down the Trump administration’s $100,000 fee on H-1B visas, a program that allows U.S. employers to hire highly skilled foreign workers, including engineers, doctors and researchers.
U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin ruled that the administration lacked the authority to impose the fee.
Sorokin’s ruling was blunt: The administration can call the fee whatever it wants, but because it functions as a tax, only Congress has the constitutional authority to impose it.
The ruling has major implications for technology companies, hospitals and universities that depend on highly skilled foreign workers. Institutions such as Stanford University, the University of Michigan and major medical centers have faced uncertainty since September, when Trump signed the proclamation that increased the cost of a single visa from $215 to $100,000.
The administration is calling the ruling blatant judicial activism and is expected to appeal. The fate of the $100,000 fee now rests with the appellate courts.
Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.
