The largest US business lobbying group filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging President Donald Trump’s $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for high-skilled foreign workers.
The lawsuit, filed by the US Chamber of Commerce, which claims to represent 300,000 businesses, is the group’s first against the Trump administration since the Republican president took office for his second term in January.
The House claims in the lawsuit that Trump’s September proclamation imposing the fee on new H-1B visa applications is outside its powers and would disrupt the complex visa system created by Congress.
Higher costs or fewer workers
The H-1B program allows American employers to hire foreign workers in specialized fields, and technology companies, in particular, rely heavily on workers who receive H-1B visas. The program offers 65,000 visas annually, with another 20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees, approved for three to six years.
The tariff would force companies that rely on the H-1B program to choose between dramatically increasing their labor costs or hiring fewer highly skilled workers, the House said.
“Many members of the US Chamber of Commerce are preparing for the need to reduce or completely abandon the H-1B program, to the detriment of their investors, customers and their own existing employees,” the group said in the lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The H-1B tariff is being challenged in at least one other lawsuit filed this month by unions, employers and religious groups in federal court in California.
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Replacing workers or solving the shortage?
Critics of H-1B visas and other work visa programs say they are often used to replace American workers with cheaper foreign labor. But business groups and big companies have said H-1Bs are a crucial means to address the shortage of skilled workers in the US.
Employers who sponsor H-1B workers currently typically pay between $2,000 and $5,000 in fees, depending on the size of the company and other factors. The House, in its lawsuit, said most H-1B petitions cost less than $3,600.
Trump’s order prohibits new H-1B beneficiaries from entering the US unless the employer sponsoring their visa has made an additional payment of $100,000. The fee will first apply to H-1B applicants selected in an annual lottery that takes place in March.
Trump, in his unprecedented order, invoked his power under federal immigration law to restrict the entry of certain aliens who could be detrimental to the interests of the United States. He said the “large-scale replacement of American workers” through the H-1B program threatens the country’s economic and national security.
But the Chamber argued in its lawsuit that the $100,000 payment does not amount to an entry restriction because it is paid by the companies and not the visa recipients.
With information from Reuters.
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