California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell led a coalition of 20 state attorneys general in suing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and other administration officials challenging the Trump administration’s imposition of a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa petitions.

The H-1B visa program allows employers to petition for high-skilled foreign workers to temporarily fill positions in specialty occupations that require at least a bachelor’s degree. In petitioning for an H-1B worker, the employer must submit an application, certified by the U.S. Department of Labor, that employment of the H-1B worker will not negatively affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers. Congress limits the number of H-1B visas available each year for most private employers, with the current cap set at 65,000, with an exemption of 20,000 for individuals with a master’s degree or higher.

On September 19, 2025, President Trump issued a proclamation ordering an unprecedented $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa petitions, undermining the very purpose of the H-1B visa by making it harder to address severe labor shortages in critical fields such as education and healthcare and ultimately worsening the staffing crisis. The new fee would create a costly barrier for employers, especially public sector and government employers, trying to fill vacant positions.

The attorney general coalition alleges that the policy, which has been implemented by the DHS, is a clear violation of the law because it imposes a massive fee outside of the bounds of what is authorized by Congress and contrary to Congress’s intent in establishing the H-1B program, bypasses required rulemaking procedures, and exceeds the authority granted to the executive branch under the Administrative Procedure Act.

The Trump Administration’s unlawful fee on H-1B visas will exacerbate staffing shortages in critical fields across the Commonwealth, depriving our universities of world-class faculty and researchers and leaving our K-12 classrooms overcrowded and understaffed. I won’t stand by as this Administration imposes exorbitant fees that harm our residents and state economy. Attorney General Andrea Campbell