US judge blocks Trump's $100,000 H-1B visa fee

WASHINGTON: A federal judge in Boston on Monday struck down a $100,000 fee imposed by US President Donald Trump on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers, ruling that the measure amounted to an unlawful tax that had not been authorised by Congress.

The decision was issued by District Judge Leo Sorokin in a case brought by 20 Democratic state attorneys general. The lawsuit challenged a fee announced by Trump in September that sharply increased the cost of obtaining H-1B visas.

The administration had argued that the charge was a lawful monetary penalty that the president could impose under federal immigration law. It said that law allows the president to restrict the entry of certain foreign nationals when he considers it detrimental to the interests of the United States.

Sorokin rejected that argument, finding that the fee was not a penalty but a tax, and that Trump had no congressional authority to impose it. He also ruled that the US State Department and US Citizenship and Immigration Services could not enforce the measure.

"Here, the substance and application of the $100,000 payment reveal that it is a tax, regardless of what the payment is called," Sorokin wrote in his ruling.

The judge, who was appointed by former president Barack Obama, cited the US Supreme Court's February decision that struck down broad tariffs Trump had pursued under a law intended for national emergencies. Sorokin said the logic of that ruling also meant Trump lacked authority under immigration law to levy a tax.