Arizona is one of 20 states suing the Trump administration over a recently-announced fee for H-1B visa applications — that’s the visa used by foreign nationals working in fields like tech, medicine and other specialized fields.
The change was announced in a presidential proclamation in September — and under it, companies applying for H-1B visas for their foreign-born workers are required to pay $100,000 before the worker is given entry to the US.
Arizona Attornrey General Kris Mayes says rural school districts like in Buckeye, west of Phoenix and Nogales, south of Tucson, rely on H-1B visas to hire teachers and other staff and can’t afford the fee.
She says the change will also impact the state’s growing semiconductor industry — at a time when Arizona is already facing hiring struggles. The states’ lawsuit argues the new fee violates the Constitution and the Administrative Procedures Act.
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The Chandler City Council is scheduled Thursday night to consider whether to renew a contract with a controversial tech company that makes license plate readers. -
A state judge says Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller was not allowed to sign an agreement with the federal Department of Homeland Security to allow his prosecutors to enforce federal immigration laws. -
Rep. Adelita Grijalva is calling the Trump administration to release a Tucson woman detained by immigration agents, saying she is protected by a federal program for undocumented people brought to the U.S. as children. -
A federal judge is once again weighing whether to intervene on behalf of a former Phoenix police sergeant fired for his behavior at an anti-ICE student protest in January. -
Audiences on each side of the U.S.-Mexico border watched the same movie just feet from each other during the Film on the Fence event.
