Unions sue Trump over 100k H-1B visa fee

By Andrew Rice
The Center Square

A coalition of employment unions filed a lawsuit to prevent the Trump administration from implementing efforts to charge a $100,000 fee for new H-1B worker petitions in the United States.

On Sept. 19, President Trump signed a proclamation imposing a one-time $100,000 fee for foreign workers coming to the country on H-1B visas. He cited wage suppression and a lack of jobs for American workers in his proclamation.

H-1B visas are typically issued for high-skilled foreign workers in science, technology and engineering fields.

The H-1B program operates on a random lottery system. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, in 2025, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Meta were in the top five companies petitioning for H-1B visas. Amazon recruited more than 10,000 H-1B applicants in 2025 alone, according to USCIS.

University professor unions, automobile and agriculture unions, and nurse staffing groups were among those who filed the lawsuit against the Trump administration. The unions argue Trump went beyond his authority by imposing the fee against new H-1B visa applicants.

“Most fundamentally, the President has no authority to unilaterally impose fees, taxes or other mechanisms to generate revenue for the United States, nor to dictate how those funds are spent,” the lawsuit reads.

The unions also argue imposing a fee on new petitions will harm hospitals, churches, schools and universities, on the basis that the law will lead to a workforce shortage in critical industries.

In addition to several unions, two individuals, who are cited under aliases, joined the lawsuit against the Trump administration. One individual is a pastor in the Appalachia region originally from the United Kingdom and the other is a postdoctoral researcher in northern California originally from India.

Each individual is afraid they will incur a fee if they renew status as a visa worker in the United States, due to the Trump administration’s proclamation.

The unions and individuals argue Congress already implements fees for the adjudication and authorization of certain petitions for H-1B workers. The union petitioners argue an employer filing for an H-1B worker visa would pay less than $8,000 if it followed all statutory and regulatory fees mandated by Congress.

The unions also accuse the Trump administration of failing to properly account for the system it intends to set up to intake fee payments for H-1B visas.

“[The Department of Homeland Security] has also failed to explain what criteria or factors it will consider in determining whether an individual, an employer, or an industry will be exempt from the $100,000 requirement,” the lawsuit reads. “This failure invites arbitrary, selective enforcement of the new requirement.”

The lawsuit was filed Friday in the California Northern District Court and is set for discussion in January 2026, according to legal filings.