A Boston judge just called Trump’s $100,000 H‑1B visa charge an “unconstitutional tax” and yanked it off the books, handing a major win to blue-state attorneys general and big business while narrowing the president’s power over immigration.[1][4]
Story Snapshot
- A federal judge in Boston ruled Trump’s $100,000 H‑1B visa payment is a tax, not a fee, and struck it down.[1][4]
- The court said only Congress can levy such a tax, so the president cannot use immigration law to raise this kind of money.[1][4]
- The policy had pushed H‑1B costs from about $2,000–$5,000 per visa to $100,000, hitting heavy users of foreign labor.[3]
- The ruling is a victory for 20 Democratic attorneys general and tech interests, and the Trump administration is expected to appeal.[1]
What The Judge Actually Did To Trump’s H‑1B Policy
U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston ruled that President Donald Trump’s $100,000 payment on new H‑1B visa petitions is not a simple regulatory fee, but a tax that Congress never approved.[1][4] Sorokin said the “substance and application” of the charge show it is a tax “regardless of what the payment is called.”[1] Because the Constitution gives the power to tax to Congress, he held that Trump had no authority to impose this payment through a presidential order.[1][4]
The judge vacated the policy in full, which means the government cannot enforce it through either the State Department or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Twenty Democratic state attorneys general had sued to block the measure, arguing that it would hurt their states’ economies and that the White House used immigration law as a back door tax power.[1] The decision also found that the rule violated the Administrative Procedure Act, the law that governs how agencies must write and roll out major policies.[1]
How Trump Tried To Use Immigration Law To Pressure Employers
Trump launched the $100,000 requirement in a September 19, 2025 presidential proclamation titled “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers.”[4] That order used section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which lets the president restrict entry of certain foreign nationals, to say that H‑1B workers could enter only if their employer made a $100,000 payment with the petition.[4] The proclamation framed this as a way to protect American wages and claimed that unrestricted entry of these workers was “detrimental to the interests of the United States.”[4]
Before this change, employers usually paid about $2,000 to $5,000 in government fees per H‑1B worker, depending on the case.[3] The new $100,000 charge was on top of those normal costs, and it applied to employers seeking to bring workers from overseas, with narrow national interest exceptions controlled by the Secretary of Homeland Security.[3][4] Legal analysts have noted that true fees are meant to cover the cost of a service, while taxes raise general revenue or steer behavior, a line Sorokin said the Trump policy clearly crossed.[1][4]
Why The Court Called It An Unconstitutional Tax
In court, the Trump administration argued that the $100,000 was a lawful “regulatory payment” under the immigration statute, not a tax.[1] Government lawyers said the president can set such conditions to limit the entry of noncitizens and to discourage what he sees as abuse of the H‑1B program.[1][3] Sorokin rejected that view and said nothing in the Immigration and Nationality Act gives the president power to create a revenue-raising payment of this size tied to visa petitions.[4] Instead, he said Congress would have to approve any such tax.[4]
The judge also found problems under the Administrative Procedure Act, which requires agencies to follow set steps, give reasons, and stay within the authority that Congress gave them.[1] Commentators explain that by using a proclamation and directing agencies to block petitions without the payment, the White House tried to move huge sums of money without a normal rulemaking or a tax law from Congress.[1] Advocacy group FWD.us praised the decision and said the ruling confirms that the administration “violated the Administrative Procedures Act and the Constitution” by imposing the $100,000 charge.
What This Means For Immigration Policy And Conservative Concerns
This ruling fits a broader pattern where courts push back when presidents of either party stretch immigration tools to do things that look more like lawmaking or taxing.[4] In this case, twenty Democratic states and major business interests won a major legal victory, while a sitting Republican president saw his attempt to raise the price of hiring foreign workers blocked in the name of constitutional limits.[1] The administration is expected to appeal, and a separate case in Washington, D.C. may also weigh in, so the final word may rest with higher courts.[3]
🚨 A federal judge just killed Trump's $100,000 H-1B visa fee, calling it an unconstitutional tax.
The fee had made it nearly impossible for hospitals, universities, and tech companies to hire foreign specialists. A court in Boston just said: the President had no authority to do… pic.twitter.com/E6iM6tKn4U— World News (@EdgeWorldNews) June 9, 2026
For conservatives, one key question is balance: how to protect American workers and secure the border while still staying inside the clear lines that the Constitution sets on taxes and executive power.[4] This case shows that when the White House acts alone, judges may treat even tough-on-immigration measures as government overreach if they look like hidden taxes. Lawmakers who want stricter limits on guest worker programs may now need to act through Congress instead of relying on creative executive orders.[1][4]
Sources:
[1] Web – Trump’s $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee Is an Unconstitutional Tax, a Federal …
[3] Web – Trump’s $100000 H-1B visa fee is unlawful, Boston federal judge rules
[4] YouTube – US Judge Strikes Down Trump’s ‘Unlawful’ $100,000 H-1b Visa Fee …
