A coalition of labor unions, health care providers, schools, and religious organizations has filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump ’s executive order increasing H-1B visa fee. The lawsuit claims the increase in visa fee to the anti-immigration power grab: A sweeping executive action that slaps an unlawful new $100,000 price tag on every new H-1B application. As per the press release issued by the association, the proclamation has already thrown employers, workers, and federal agencies into chaos. Plaintiffs are represented by Democracy Forward , Justice Action Center, South Asian American Justice Collaborative (SAAJCO), Kuck Baxter LLC, Joseph & Hall, P.C., and IMMpact Litigation.
Here's the press release on the lawsuit by the organisation:
The H-1B visa program was created by Congress to provide a critical path for the United States to attract highly skilled professionals from around the world to fill urgent needs in the economy and public services to strengthen American innovation. Under the program, U.S. employers can hire qualified foreign talent — such as doctors, nurses, engineers, teachers, and researchers — after a rigorous review process.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, challenges the order as unconstitutional and unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act. Plaintiffs include Global Nurse Force; Global Village Academy Collaborative; Society of the Divine Word; the Fathers of St. Charles; Church on the Hill; International Union; United Auto-Aerospace Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW International); UAW Local 4811; American Association of University Professors (AAUP); Committee of Interns and Residents, SEIU (CIR), a citizen of the United Kingdom residing in the Appalachia region, and a citizen of India residing in the Northern District of California.
These 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.
When the government makes it prohibitively expensive or impossible for these professionals to come to America, or for current H-1B workers to transition to a more permanent status, entire communities lose — patients wait longer for care, students have fewer teachers, and local economies miss out on the innovation and jobs these experts create.
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 favoritism: 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 organizations and research institutions can’t absorb the significant expense. All will lose if they cannot utilize 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. Without relief, hospitals will lose medical staff, churches will lose pastors, classrooms will lose teachers, and industries across the country risk losing key innovators.
The suit asks the court to immediately block the order and restore predictability for employers and workers.
What Trump's H-1B visa fee order says
In its order, Trump administration argued that the H-1B visa system was being abused to replace American workers with people willing to work for less money. The United States awards 85,000 H-1B visas per year on a lottery system. India accounts for around three-quarters of the recipients.
Here's the press release on the lawsuit by the organisation:
The H-1B visa program was created by Congress to provide a critical path for the United States to attract highly skilled professionals from around the world to fill urgent needs in the economy and public services to strengthen American innovation. Under the program, U.S. employers can hire qualified foreign talent — such as doctors, nurses, engineers, teachers, and researchers — after a rigorous review process.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, challenges the order as unconstitutional and unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act. Plaintiffs include Global Nurse Force; Global Village Academy Collaborative; Society of the Divine Word; the Fathers of St. Charles; Church on the Hill; International Union; United Auto-Aerospace Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW International); UAW Local 4811; American Association of University Professors (AAUP); Committee of Interns and Residents, SEIU (CIR), a citizen of the United Kingdom residing in the Appalachia region, and a citizen of India residing in the Northern District of California.
These 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.
When the government makes it prohibitively expensive or impossible for these professionals to come to America, or for current H-1B workers to transition to a more permanent status, entire communities lose — patients wait longer for care, students have fewer teachers, and local economies miss out on the innovation and jobs these experts create.
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 favoritism: 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 organizations and research institutions can’t absorb the significant expense. All will lose if they cannot utilize 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. Without relief, hospitals will lose medical staff, churches will lose pastors, classrooms will lose teachers, and industries across the country risk losing key innovators.
The suit asks the court to immediately block the order and restore predictability for employers and workers.
What Trump's H-1B visa fee order says
In its order, Trump administration argued that the H-1B visa system was being abused to replace American workers with people willing to work for less money. The United States awards 85,000 H-1B visas per year on a lottery system. India accounts for around three-quarters of the recipients.
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