Handing President Donald Trump a major victory, a federal judge Tuesday rejected a challenge by the largest U.S. business lobby group to the $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers.
Saying it fell under the President’s broad powers to regulate immigration, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, an Obama appointee, rejected the arguments of U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Association of American Universities — which represents leading research institutions — seeking to block the new levy.
She rejected their claims that the administration is violating congressional intent and acting outside its authority and the new levy will lead many companies, hospitals and other employers to cut jobs and the services they provide to the public.
“The parties’ vigorous debate over the ultimate wisdom of this political judgment is not within the province of the courts,” Howell wrote. “So long as the actions dictated by the policy decision and articulated in the Proclamation fit within the confines of the law, the Proclamation must be upheld.”
Trump, the judge said, had adequately backed up his claim that the H-1B program was displacing U.S. workers, including by citing examples of companies that laid off thousands of Americans while simultaneously petitioning for H-1B visas.
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The Chamber’s Executive Vice President and Chief Counsel Daryl Joseffer said, “The $100,000 fee makes H-1B visas cost prohibitive for businesses, especially small- and medium-sized businesses that can least afford it.”
“We are disappointed in the court’s decision and are considering further legal options to ensure that the H-1B visa program can operate as Congress intended to enable American businesses of all sizes to access the global talent they need to grow their operations,” Joseffer stated.
Indian techies are the major beneficiaries of the H-1B program which allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers with training in specialty fields.
In recent years, Indian nationals have cornered over 70% of the annual quota 65,000 H-B visas, with another 20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees, approved for three to six years.
The White House announced in September that foreign-born workers seeking to enter the U.S. through the program would require a $100,000 fee creating a major disincentive for companies to hire immigrants over Americans.
The Chamber in its lawsuit says the new fee would force businesses that rely on the H-1B program to choose between dramatically increasing their labor costs or hiring fewer highly-skilled foreign workers.
A group of Democratic-led U.S. states and a coalition of employers, nonprofits and religious organizations have also filed lawsuits challenging the fee.
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U.S. global leadership, economic growth, and national security are powered by attracting the best talent from around the world, the chamber says describing H-1B visa program as “an essential tool that helps employers of all sizes meet critical skills needs, allowing them to grow, increase productivity, create more opportunities, and raise wages for American workers.”
The chamber cited research showing that high-skill immigration raises output and local wages without reducing domestic employment. Persistent labor shortages in computer, math, and engineering occupations underscore the demand for specialized skills .
According to the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), an “increase in the share of workers with an H-1B visa within an occupation, on average, reduces the unemployment rate in that occupation” and “leads to faster earnings growth for U.S. workers.”
In cities where companies experience more H-1B visa denials, jobs for Americans workers in computer-related industries decreases, according to the George Mason University Mercatus Center.
By contrast, in the cities that receive more H-1B visa acceptances, more American jobs are created in computer-related industries, and wages for college-educated Americans grow, it said.
When businesses can hire the high-skill talent they need, they innovate faster and produce more—generating higher earnings for U.S. workers across all education levels through supply-chain growth and new business formation, the chamber stated.