California is leading a joint 20-state decision to sue the Donald Trump administration over the $100,000 fee imposed on new H-1B visa petitions in September. The lawsuit was filed on Friday, December 12 (US time).
In a press release dated December 12, 2025, California Attorney General William Tong joined the coalition of US states to challenge what it called an “unlawful policy.” Noting that the ‘specialty occupations’ nonimmigrant visa program allows American employers to hire highly skilled foreign national workers, the official release stated that the new blanket fee was taking the shape of a “costly barrier for employers.”
The coalition alleged, the new policy 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 (APA).”
The press release further noted that while an employer filing an initial H-1B petition was typically expected to pay between $960 to $7,595 in regulatory and statutory fee, the new $100K fee “far exceeds the actual cost of processing H-1B petitions.” The states also emphasised that the hefty H-1B fee would ultimately impact schools, universities and hospitals relying on the visa program for its workforce expansion.
Led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell, attorney generals of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin also joined in to file the lawsuit.
What California AG Tong said
As established in the press release, Tong severely hit out against the US president, saying, “Donald Trump is hawking the American Dream to the highest bidders.” The California attorney general further argued, the Trump admin’s decision was a ” crass insult to the immigrant roots of our nation, and a blow to public and private sector employers who have long relied on skilled H-1B workers to fill difficult and vital positions.”
How Trump admin is responding to the H-1B lawsuit
Addressing the issue in a statement to Business Insider, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers laid emphasis on the POTUS’ ‘American First’ promise.
“President Trump promised to put American workers first, and his commonsense action on H-1B visas does just that by discouraging companies from spamming the system and driving down American wages, while providing certainty to employers who need to bring the best talent from overseas,” the spokesperson shared the response with the outlet after the lawsuit news broke cover.
Other lawsuits against Trump’s H-1B visa fee
The US states coalition’s lawsuit isn’t the first formal challenge raised to Trump’s H-1B fee.
According to the American Immigration Council, two lawsuits were already questioning the current admin’s September proclamation.
These are: ‘Global Nurse Force v Trump’ filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California and ‘Chamber of ‘Commerce of the United States vs US Department of Homeland Security’ filed in the US District Court for the the District of Columbia by the Chamber and the Association of American Universities (AAU).
More information will be added.