First Major Challenge To Trump's $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee As Coalition Files Lawsuit To Block Order
The lawsuit said the H-1B program is a critical pathway to hiring healthcare workers and educators and drives innovation and economic growth in the US.
Published : October 4, 2025 at 7:26 AM IST
New Delhi: A coalition of healthcare providers, religious groups, university professors and others in the US filed a federal lawsuit on Friday to stop the new $100,000 fee required for H-1B visa applications in what appears to be the first major challenge to President Donald Trump's controversial decision.
The lawsuit says the move to substantially hike the fee has “thrown employers, workers and federal agencies into chaos.”
Trump signed a proclamation on September 19 requiring the new fee, saying the H-1B visa program “has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labour.” The changes were slated to go into effect in 36 hours, which caused panic for employers, who instructed their workers, the majority of whom are from India, to return to the US immediately.
The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court in San Francisco, said the H-1B program is a critical pathway to hiring healthcare workers and educators. It drives innovation and economic growth in the US, and allows employers to fill jobs in specialized fields, the lawsuit said.
Plaintiffs are represented by Democracy Forward Foundation and Justice Action Center, and South Asian American Justice Collaborative (SAAJCO), among others.
“Without relief, hospitals will lose medical staff, churches will lose pastors, classrooms will lose teachers, and industries across the country risk losing key innovators,” Democracy Forward Foundation and Justice Action Center said in a press release accessed by ETV Bharat.
According to it, the plaintiffs represent medical residents, fellows, interns, and nurses serving rural and medically underserved communities, a school that relies on H-1B workers to serve their students, religious organizations that depend on the H-1B program to hire pastors and religious professionals that minister to underserved communities, major labor unions representing faculty and academic professionals and higher education members, and individual highly skilled workers whose careers and lives were upended overnight.
Todd Wolfson, president of the American Association of University Professors, one of the plaintiffs, said Trump’s restrictions on H-1B visa applications will lead to less lifesaving research, reduced innovation, and diminished competitiveness.
“By discouraging the best and brightest minds from around the world—individuals who have enriched American higher education for decades—he’s sending a message: ‘You’re not welcome here. Go elsewhere.’ This short-sighted policy doesn’t just hurt universities — it hurts every American by slowing research breakthroughs, weakening our economy, and putting our global leadership at risk," Wolfson said.
Dr Taylor Walker, President Committee of Interns and Residents, SEIU (CIR), another plaintiff, said resident physicians with H-1B visas are highly skilled professionals who provide high-quality and compassionate care to patients throughout the United States.
"They are part of the very backbone of our healthcare system. The unconscionable fee for H-1B petitions called for in the President’s proclamation will have a devastating impact on our patients and their communities by reducing the number of resident physicians available to provide care at a time our country is already facing a serious shortage of physicians,” he said.
United Auto-Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America Region 6 Director Mike Miller said the edict makes clear the US is "no longer open to the world’s most brilliant and hardworking scientists”. “It prioritizes wealth and connections over scientific acumen and diligence and tells the world that the U.S. is no longer a place to pursue scientific inquiry to solve some of the major diseases and other problems confronting us.”
Among the Co-Counsels, Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward, said Trump's decision isn’t about helping American workers; it’s about shutting the door on American innovation and essential work and opening the door to corruption.
“H-1B workers keep rural hospitals staffed, bring STEM education to schools with teacher shortages, advance lifesaving medical research, keep our tech sector competitive, and help small businesses thrive. President Trump cannot impose a six-figure immigration ransom by fiat. This exorbitant fee invites corruption and is unlawful, destabilizing, and bad for everyone — that’s why we’ve joined this powerful coalition to challenge it in court," Perryman said.
Karen Tumlin, Founder and Director of Justice Action Center, another co-counsel in the lawsuit, said on September 19, the Trump administration essentially told medical staff, engineers, and visionaries to ‘Keep out,’ slamming the door on the employers who need them, and the communities they serve.
“We filed this lawsuit not just for those who are working hard to strengthen America’s industries, hospitals, and schools, but for everyone in this country who stands to lose so much if these experts are effectively banned from entering the US.”
Kalpana V. Peddibhotla, Executive Director of the South Asian American Justice Collaborative, one of the co-counsels, said South Asians make up the majority of H-1B workers and are part of the fabric of America, staffing rural hospitals, advancing lifesaving research, and driving innovation in businesses across the country. "This unlawful fee threatens workers, their families, and the financial and social wellbeing of the communities in which they live,” Peddibhotla said.
The complaint details how the sudden $100,000 demand:
- Defies Congress: The H-1B program has a carefully crafted fee and oversight system set by law. The President cannot rewrite it overnight or levy new taxes by proclamation.
- Invites chaos and favouritism: The order offers a vague “national interest” loophole with no clear standards for fee exemptions, opening the door to arbitrary, pay-to-play decisions.
- Hurts communities nationwide: Rural hospitals warn they will be unable to keep needed doctors and nurses; schools say the unlawful fee is more than many teacher salaries; and nonprofit organisations and research institutions can’t absorb the significant expense. All will lose if they cannot utilise H-1B workers.
- Undermines the economy: Economists agree that H-1B workers create U.S. jobs and drive new industries. Forcing talent away means companies move operations—and good jobs—overseas.
The suit asks the court to immediately block the order and restore predictability for employers and workers.” They called the new fee “Trump's latest anti-immigration power grab.”
The H-1B visa program was created by Congress to attract high-skilled workers to fill jobs that tech companies find difficult to fill. About a third of H-1B workers are nurses, teachers, physicians, scholars, priests and pastors, according to the lawsuit. Critics say the program is a pipeline for overseas workers who are often willing to work for as little as $60,000 annually, well below the $100,000-plus salaries typically paid to U.S. technology workers.
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