A US federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from imposing a $100,000 fee on employers filing visa applications for highly skilled foreign workers.
District Judge Leo Sorokin ruled in a lawsuit filed by 20 Democratic-led states that the move usurped the taxation powers held by Congress and that the fee for H-1B visas constituted an unlawful tax.
“The substance and application of the $100,000 payment reveal that it is a tax, regardless of what the payment is called,” Sorokin wrote on Monday in his 42-page ruling.
“The President had no power or delegated authority to impose a tax on H-1B petitions,” he wrote.
A different federal judge upheld the $100,000 fee in a separate case in December. That ruling is currently being appealed.
That lawsuit was brought by the US Chamber of Commerce, a pro-business lobbying group, and the Association of American Universities, which represents 69 US-based research schools.
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