US President Donald Trump was pictured in public for the first time hours after a judge struck down one of his major immigration policies targeting H-1B visa applicants and sponsors. The MAGA leader, who doubled down on vilifying immigrants after beginning his second term in 2025, reacted to federal judge Leo Sorokin’s ruling in the US District Court in Boston. On Monday (US time), the major decision struck down the additional $100,000 fee Trump introduced for new H-1B visa applications last September. The Trump administration plans to appeal the decision.

How did Trump react to the major H-1B fee ruling?

It’s not out of the ordinary for Donald Trump to use aggressive rhetoric to target United States judges. Having already attacked several Supreme Court justices as “lapdogs,” “disloyal to our constitution,” “fools,” and “disgrace to our nation,” the president employed similar heavily-charged words to target the federal judge who struck down his H-1B blanket fee policy meant to restrict the entry of certain non-immigrant workers into the US. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been named as a defendant in the H-1B case.

ALSO READ

“These federal judges are really giving us a hard time,” he told reporters on Monday, as seen in a video published by US Network Pool via Reuters. “It’s really crazy what’s going on with the court system… They’re hurting our country very badly.”

Federal Judicial Service Judge Leo Sorokin, who is responsible for declaring the hefty $100,000 H-1B visa fee illegal by siding with 20 states challenging Trump, is the same Barack Obama-appointed official who previously blocked the POTUS’ birthright citizenship executive order. Last year, he ruled that the order seeking to limit birthright citizenship is likely unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment.

In addition to Trump’s direct response to Monday’s setback, White House spokesperson  Taylor Rogers reasserted the administration’s long-reiterated claims of H1B “abuse.”

“President Trump has clear legal authority to restrict the entry of any class of aliens he determines is not in America’s best interests, and that is exactly what he did,” Rogers told Fox News Digital. “The H-1B program has been abused for decades, and President Trump finally took action to fix it. A federal judge in Washington already upheld a nearly identical order, and the Administration is confident this order will be reversed on appeal.”

Before Trump’s action increased the cost of obtaining H-1B visas, the  fee paid by a foreign national was contingent on various factors  and ranged from $2,000 to $5,000. Court filings subsequently showed that the additional fee discouraged work visa requests. In a March filing, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) received just 85 payments of the increased fee as of February 15, Reuters reported.

Judge declares Trump’s H-1B fee as unlawful

In his 42-page ruling, Sorokin agreed with 20 US states that sued to block the $100,000 fee, finding, “The substance and application of the $100,000 payment reveal that it is a tax,” adding that Congress had not authorised it. He ultimately concluded in the ruling, “The Policy implementing the Proclamation is declared unlawful and is vacated in its entirety.”

ALSO READ

The ‘specialty occupations’ non-immigrant work visa, intended to hire high-skilled foreign workers in the United States, has especially been popular among Indian nationals, who have dominated the program’s approval rate in recent years. It was created in 1990 and has since been heavily used by the country’s tech giants.

By implementing the H-1B visa fee through a September presidential proclamation, the Trump White House stated, “Information technology (IT) firms in particular have prominently manipulated the H-1B system, significantly harming American workers in computer-related fields.”

Trump and other MAGA supporters have long accused tech companies of using the visa program to “take advantage of artificially low labor costs.” The Trump administration believes that IT divisions even fire their American staff to outsource jobs to lower-paid foreign workers.

“It is therefore necessary to impose higher costs on companies seeking to use the H-1B program in order to address the abuse of that program while still permitting companies to hire the best of the best temporary foreign workers,” stated the September presidential action.

Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, immigration, or tax advice. Immigration laws and government policies are subject to frequent change without notice. While we strive to provide accurate updates, readers are strongly advised to verify the latest requirements with the official embassy, consulate, or government portal of the respective country. Financial Express is not responsible for any decisions made based on this information. For personalised guidance, please consult a qualified immigration attorney or a certified professional advisor.