President Trump’s $100,000 fee on H-1B visa holders have been struck down. A Massachusetts Obama judge, Judge Leo Sorokin, called it a tax, and the president doesn’t have the power to tax. Sorokin also said the administration did not justify the high fee.
The administration appealed. Interestingly, another leftist judge, Beryl Howell, upheld the President’s proclamation.
Meanwhile, the administration found a better way out of this legal issue. It’s no longer a proclamation. They made it a Homeland Security rule. Administrators can write the rules. They can charge fees. They did a cost analysis, and now everyone involved in the process is included in the costs. The costs add up to $103,000. The cost came to $8.7 billion for 85,000 people annually. Dividing 85,000 people into $8.7 billion comes to $103,000 per person.
It also applies to everyone coming in, so there is no discrimination.
This makes it harder to counter, but the lawsuits will come. However, it will take some time. In the meantime, they will move ahead after the public input stage.
Many companies have abused the program, making it into a scam. There are regulatory changes coming to change that. Companies that abused it will find themselves at a disadvantage.
The changes:
- Revise eligibility for cap exemptions
- Provide greater scrutiny for employers that have violated program requirements
- Increase oversight over third-party placements
- Take other steps to “improve the integrity” of H-1B and “protect U.S. workers’ wages and working conditions.”