Trump administration plans $100,000 visa fee for high-skill foreign workers

Filed 2d ago · Via Michigan Advance · The Buffoon Desk

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Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

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DHS previewed a rule that would raise the cost of hiring high-skilled foreign workers under the H-1B program to $100,000, up from the current $2,000 to $5,000. The administration says the fee would fund the cost of administering the immigration system across DHS, Justice, State, and Labor.

Congress capped H-1B visas at 65,000 annually plus 20,000 for advanced-degree graduates of U.S. schools, for workers in fields like STEM, medicine, and education. A federal judge already struck down a similar $100,000 fee attempt for workers hired from outside the U.S. in June.

The administration previously imposed a one-time version of this fee last year, framing it as protection for American jobs, even though the program specifically exists to fill positions employers say they can't fill domestically.

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There is a particular genius in declaring a program a threat to American workers and then setting the price of using it at a level only the largest employers can pay — the policy does not close the door, it just installs a velvet rope. And when a court has already told you no on a nearly identical scheme, running it again with slightly different paperwork is not governing, it is testing whether anyone is still watching. The stated purpose is funding the immigration system; the practical effect is deciding which companies get to participate in it.

Source: Read the original at Michigan Advance → Scored: Song of the Volga Boatmen · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

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