A federal judge in Boston delivered a major setback to the Trump administration’s efforts to raise the cost of temporary skilled-worker visas. In an 18-page decision issued on the morning of July 24, Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg granted a preliminary injunction halting the government’s plan to impose a US$100,000 filing fee on every new H-1B petition. The judge found that the hefty surcharge, announced last September and marketed as an “American Worker Priority Fee,” far exceeded the statutory user-fee authority granted to USCIS and amounted to an unconstitutional tax on employers and foreign nationals. Boasberg’s ruling relied on both administrative-procedure grounds and First-Amendment concerns. He said the fee would effectively price out smaller employers and public-sector institutions—particularly K-12 school districts and rural hospitals—while chilling speech by foreign researchers whose access to the U.S. labor market depends on visa availability. The court held that Congress, not the executive branch, must authorize such a dramatic cost increase. Practically, the decision means that employers already preparing FY 2027 cap-subject petitions can proceed under the long-standing US$460 base filing fee (plus the usual fraud-prevention and ACWIA surcharges). USCIS may not reject or return petitions for non-payment of the US$100,000 fee while the injunction is in place. The agency has not yet issued guidance, but immigration attorneys recommend attaching a copy of the order to pending filings. The administration is expected to appeal to the First Circuit and has hinted it may attempt to re-issue the fee through expedited rulemaking. However, most observers believe the odds of success are slim, given the judge’s finding that the fee was "clearly punitive" and disconnected from the actual cost of adjudication. For multinational employers, the ruling removes a cloud of financial uncertainty just as fall recruitment kicks off, and it may also deter state legislatures from adopting copy-cat surcharges at the local level. Longer term, Boasberg’s reasoning could restrict the executive branch’s ability to leverage visa fees as a policy tool, forcing DHS to pursue more traditional regulatory pathways—or seek new appropriations from Congress—when it wants to reshape business immigration programs.
Source: Fox News
