California leads coalition of 20 states suing Trump over $100K H-1B visa policy

California is leading a coalition of states in filing a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration, challenging its “unlawful policy [of] imposing a $100,000 fee” on anyone seeking a new H-1B visa, used to bring skilled workers into the country—including physicians and other healthcare professionals.

In an announcement, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said his and 19 other states are challenging the legal standing of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), at the behest of Trump, to implement such restrictions in the visa program. The plaintiffs argue that only Congress has such authority.

Specifically, Bonta and the other attorneys general contend that only Congress can impose a “massive fee,” and that the actions of Trump and DHS are a “clear violation of the law” that go beyond what was intended when legislators set up the H-1B program. Further, the Administrative Procedure Act, which gives the president authority to manage federal agencies, is not intended to allow the executive to legislate by decree, the states contend.

“President Trump’s illegal $100,000 H-1B visa fee creates unnecessary—and illegal—financial burdens on California public employers and other providers of vital services, exacerbating labor shortages in key sectors,” Bonta said in a statement. “The Trump administration thinks it can raise costs on a whim, but the law says otherwise. We are going to court to defend California’s residents and their access to the world-class universities, schools, and hospitals that make Californians proud to call this state home.”

At a press conference announcing the court filing, Bonta accused Trump of overstepping his authority: “The bottom line is, no presidential administration can rewrite immigration law,” he said.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, with Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin listed as co-plaintiffs.

The group argues that the $100,000 cost is untenably punitive, and could damage sectors including technology, healthcare, education and more.

“Without access to skilled overseas workers, public schools would be forced to subject American children to larger class sizes, public research centers would lack staffing to support cutting-edge research, and hospitals would lose capacity to treat seriously ill patients,” the lawsuit reads.

The court filing goes on to mention that the H-1B program dates back to 1952, and that it isn’t just the private sector that will suffer from the allowed immigration of skilled labor, as “public institutions have come to rely on the H-1B program.”