US judge blocks Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee (opens in new tab)

A federal judge in Boston struck down President Trump’s $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers, ruling Monday that the charge was an unlawful tax that Congress had not authorized. U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin ruled in a lawsuit brought by 20 Democratic state attorneys general, finding that the executive branch exceeded its authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The Trump administration announced the fee in September 2025 as part of an effort to ...