On June 8, Judge Leo T. Sorokin in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts struck down the Trump administration’s $100,000 fee on all new H-1B hires who require processing at consulates outside the United States. In the case of California v. Mullin, the judge granted a motion for summary judgment by the plaintiffs, a coalition of 20 states. He declared, “The Policy implementing the Proclamation is declared unlawful and is vacated in its entirety.”
The fee had been announced in Sept. 2025 by a presidential proclamation.
The Judge’s ruling is that the president lacked the power to impose an additional $100,000 payment on H-1B applications because it is a tax, and only Congress has the power to tax.
The Justice Department filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on June 11.
The following day, the District Judge entered an administrative stay to preserve the status quo until the appellate court weighs in.
Two other lawsuits over the $100,000 H-1B fee remain active.
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