Washington, D.C. Today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s $100,000 entry fee on H-1B visa petitions filed for those who are outside the U.S. The Chamber’s case makes the assertions that new H-1B entry fee is unlawful because it overrides the statutory provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act which governs the H-1B visa program. The law itself sets the filing fees that are based on the costs incurred by the government in processing visas. We had a blog post suggesting a potential lawsuit against the Proclamation!
In announcing today’s legal action by the Chamber, Neil Bradley, Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer at the U.S. Chamber, issued the following statement:
“The new $100,000 visa fee will make it cost-prohibitive for U.S. employers, especially start-ups and small and midsize businesses, to utilize the H-1B program, which was created by Congress expressly to ensure that American businesses of all sizes can access the global talent they need to grow their operations here in the U.S.
“With the border secure, we now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to accomplish targeted legal immigration reforms, and we stand ready to work with Congress and the administration to make that happen. That includes working together on common-sense reforms to improve the visa process for skilled workers. The president has said he wants to educate, attract, and retain the world’s best and brightest in the U.S., and the Chamber shares that goal.”
The U.S. Chamber has an informational sheet about the positive benefits of H-1B visas to the U.S. economy here. Neil Bradley’s new article calls for addressing the worker shortage through legal immigration reform here.
The U.S. Chamber states it uses many tools to influence public policy including advocacy and litigation and regularly deploys resources to help create the conditions that drive U.S. investment and job creation. As the leading voice of business in the U.S., the Chamber often seeks legal intervention in response to Executive Branch actions on a regular basis.
Earlier a broad coalition of organizations had sued the government (Global Nurse Force et al v. Trump et al.) seeking to end President Trump’s sweeping executive action that imposed a new $100,000 entry fee on every new H-1B application.
That lawsuit was 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 Automobile, Aerospace and 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.
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.
(Learn more about the issue, President Trump Restricts Entry of H-1B Skilled Workers into the U.S.)
Note: This is a blog post by Adhikari Law PLLC and should NOT be construed as a legal advice. Changes in immigration policies and procedures are complex and may require a consultation with an experienced immigration lawyer.
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