A federal court should set aside a new $100,000 fee imposed on H-1B workers by the Trump administration, according to a lawsuit filed by a coalition of labor unions, health-care providers, academic groups, religious organizations, and individual visa holders.
A proclamation issued by the White House Sept. 19 added the fee as a condition of entry for workers on the visas heavily used by tech employers. The surprise announcement caused panic among employers and workers outside the US before administration officials clarified that it wouldn’t apply to current visa holders.
Imposing the fee violated the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, the complaint filed Friday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California argued.
“The President has no authority to unilaterally alter the comprehensive statutory scheme created by Congress,” the plaintiffs argued. “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 proclamation, which took effect Sept. 21, was the Trump administration’s biggest move so far to disrupt the employment-based immigration system after pursuing a mass deportation campaign this year. The Department of Homeland Security subsequently proposed an overhaul of the annual lottery process for the H-1B program.
The administration’s surprise announcement sparked chaos that caused plaintiffs immediate harm, according to the lawsuit. H-1B workers who were abroad scrambled to return to the US, including some that spent thousands on travel. Others who were in the US canceled planned trips. Some workers who had boarded flights panicked when they heard the news and asked to deplane.
The proclamation and agency policies will damage plaintiffs and the public interest by disrupting companies, schools, and other institutions that rely on the H-1B visa program, the complaint said. Harms include intensifying teacher and nurse shortages, interfering with research at universities, and preventing religious organizations from getting staff with the language skills and cultural knowledge needed to serve diverse communities.
The plaintiffs include the United Auto Workers, American Association of University Professors, the Catholic missionary Society of the Divine Word, and Global Nurse Force, which places international nurses with health-care facilities. They’re represented by attorneys at Justice Action Center.
The lawsuit targeted President Donald Trump, as well as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow, and US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott.
A White House spokesperson said that Trump’s action on H1-B visas discourages businesses from “spamming the system and driving down American wages, while providing certainty to employers who need to bring the best talent from overseas.”
“The Administration’s actions are lawful and challenges by liberal groups, like Democracy Forward, who’ve made a habit over filing frivolous lawsuits should not be taken seriously,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in an email.
The case is Global Nurse Force v. Trump, N.D. Cal., No. 3:25-cv-08454, complaint filed 10/3/25.
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