U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin struck down President Donald Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee on June 8, 2026, declaring the charge an unlawful tax that exceeded presidential authority and handed a major victory to 20 Democratic state attorneys general who sued to block the policy.
The 42-page opinion from the judge, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, concluded that while the Immigration and Nationality Act gives presidents broad discretion over who enters the United States, that power does not include the ability to levy taxes without congressional approval.
“The substance and application of the $100,000 payment reveal that it is a tax, regardless of what the payment is called,” Sorokin wrote.
The ruling, issued from Boston, vacates the entire policy. Sorokin previously issued a nationwide injunction in 2025 blocking Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship, finding it likely unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment. That case has reached the Supreme Court and awaits a decision.
The Tax Question at the Heart of the Ruling
Sorokin drew on a February 2026 Supreme Court ruling that determined tariffs Trump imposed in 2025 were taxes and that the president lacked authority to impose them. He also found the administration had violated the Administrative Procedure Act by bypassing notice-and-comment rule making.
“While the Executive has broad discretion over the admission and exclusion of aliens, … that discretion is not boundless,” Sorokin wrote, adding that the policy “imposes a tax on H-1B petitions without the requisite delegation by Congress.”
The Trump administration argued the president had authority to impose the charge as a financial penalty, citing executive power to restrict entry of foreigners deemed “detrimental to the interests of the United States.” The judge rejected that reasoning.
A Six-Figure Barrier for Skilled Workers
Trump announced the fee in September 2025, raising the cost of a new H-1B visa from the typical $2,000–$5,000 to $100,000. The federal government issues 65,000 such visas annually, plus an additional 20,000 reserved for workers with advanced degrees.
Technology companies, universities, hospitals and other employers rely on the visas to recruit highly skilled foreign talent. The September proclamation contended that H-1B holders suppressed wages and undercut American workers, and that science, technology, engineering and math fields were saturated by foreign labor.
Court filings documented immediate disruption. Few employers were willing to pay the new charge, and alarm spread rapidly. On a Dubai-bound Emirates flight in San Francisco, some passengers demanded to get off the plane, fearing they would be locked out of the country if they left.
Meanwhile, the administration rolled out a parallel program for the ultrawealthy. The “Gold Card” visa, championed by Trump on September 19, 2025, offers wealthy foreigners and corporations expedited entry into the United States for a $1 million payment.
A MAGA Civil War Over Foreign Talent
The ruling lands in the center of a bitter internal fight within Trump’s political coalition. Silicon Valley conservatives, led by Elon Musk — himself a former visa holder — contend that foreign engineers and scientists are essential to American dominance in artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.
Nationalist hardliners view the program differently. Steve Bannon has characterized H-1B as a mechanism for replacing American workers with cheaper foreign labor, while Fox News host Laura Ingraham has maintained companies exploit the visas to avoid hiring U.S. graduates.
Trump angered his base during an interview with Ingraham in October 2025 when he defended the visa, acknowledging the country lacked enough talented workers. He reinforced that position at a U.S.-Saudi investment forum, highlighting massive chip manufacturing projects in Arizona that need imported expertise to succeed.
Another Judicial Setback
The White House signaled it would appeal. Spokesperson Taylor Rogers said that Trump has “clear legal authority to restrict entry of any class of aliens he determines is not in America’s best interests.” Trump was more direct Monday evening. “These federal judges are really giving us a hard time,” he said. “They’re hurting our country very badly.”
Since returning to office, Trump has pursued an expansive immigration crackdown featuring tighter visa rules, expanded deportation initiatives and efforts to curtail asylum access. The coming appeal of Sorokin’s H-1B decision will test once more how far executive power extends before running into the Constitution’s explicit grant of taxing authority to Congress.
