The US Chamber of Commerce has decided to appeal a court ruling that allowed the Trump administration to move forward with a massive $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications, Bloomberg reported. These visas are widely used by American technology companies to hire skilled foreign workers.
On Monday, the national business group filed a notice of appeal in a federal court in Washington. This came after a judge ruled on December 23 that President Donald Trump’s decision to raise the cost of the visa was legal.
Big business group challenges Trump’s H-1B visa fee
In a lawsuit filed in October, the US Chamber of Commerce argued that the fee increase breaks federal immigration law. The group said Trump went beyond the authority given by Congress when it comes to setting visa fees. The Chamber also said the proclamation overrides laws that are already in place. But US District Judge Beryl Howell disagreed.
In her December 23 decision, Judge Howell rejected the Chamber’s arguments. She ruled that Trump did have the power to impose the fee. The judge, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, said the proclamation was issued under a law that clearly gives the president the authority to take such action.
Bloomberg Intelligence litigation analyst Matthew Schettenhelm said the ruling was a major win for Trump. He added that Judge Howell has previously been tough on the Trump administration, which makes her decision even more significant. “If Judge Howell didn’t find legal problems with this new proclamation,” Schettenhelm wrote, “it’s unlikely that the DC Circuit or even the US Supreme Court will either.”
The case is officially titled Chamber of Commerce v. US Department of Homeland Security. It is being heard in the US District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington.
The case is now part of a bigger legal battle unfolding across the country. Trump’s September proclamation announcing the new fee is already facing separate challenges in other courts.
In Massachusetts, more than a dozen states, most of them led by Democrats, have filed a lawsuit against the move. In California, a global nurse-staffing company and several labour unions have also gone to court to challenge the fee. According to a few legal experts, cited by Bloomberg, the cases are likely to end up in the Supreme Court.
Why the H-1B visa issue is going big
The H-1B visa program plays a key role in employment-based immigration in the United States. It allows US companies to hire foreign workers who have college degrees and special skills, especially in fields like technology, engineering, and healthcare.
Trump said the fee hike was meant to stop companies from misusing the program. He argued that hiring foreign workers through H-1B visas pushes American workers out of jobs. Since the country was founded, the US has generally welcomed people from different nations and economic backgrounds who came seeking opportunity and freedom, and now the system under Trump’s 2.0 is seeing a major overhaul.
Claims of huge revenue, warnings of economic damage
Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have openly talked about how much money the new fee could bring in. They suggested it could generate more than $100 billion for the US Treasury.
However, immigration lawyers have warned that such a steep increase could seriously disrupt businesses. They say the higher costs could hurt companies, slow hiring, and end up being very expensive for the US economy as a whole.