A lawsuit filed by labor unions, health care providers and others is challenging the Trump administration’s recent announcement of an extreme fee increase for a non-immigrant visa called H1B.
Plaintiffs include labor unions like those for agricultural and aerospace workers, along with religious groups, a nurse recruitment agency, a national professor’s association and many others.
Under a presidential proclamation from September, employers will be required to pay a $100,000 fee to file new H1B visa applications for their workers. The visa is used by foreign workers in a variety of fields.
Esther Sung is an attorney on the case.
“What we wanted to illustrate to folks through this complaint is that this $100,000 fee impacts a whole lot more than just big tech companies, as I think President Trump has been focusing on,” Sung said. “A lot of other organizations in the country use H1B to bring in specialized workers if they simply cannot hire locally.”
The lawsuit argues Trump doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally alter the H1B system, which was created by Congress. It also argues the U.S. could see a drain in health care and education workers, which make up roughly 10% of H1B visas.
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