Skilled talent from around world...: California, 19 US states legally challenge Trumps H-1B visa fee
At least 20 US states have filed a petition in court against the Trump tp administration's decision to hike H-1B Visa fees. The states which have filed this petition argued that this act was against the law and said that the Visa fee hike exceeds the actual cost of processing H-1B petitions. This is the third lawsuit to be filed against the H-1B visa fee hike in the country. The earlier 2 were filed by Chamber of Commerce and a coalition of unions, employers and religious groups.
New Delhi: California, and 19 other US states have legally challenged President Donald Trump's H-1B visa fee of USD 100,000. The states filed the lawsuit blocking the hiked H-1B visa fee, for highly skilled foreign workers in the country.
States filing the lawsuit
According to a Reuters report, which quoted the California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office, the states filing the lawsuit are, include California, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, New Jersey and Washington. The other states which will be part of the litigation are, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.
"As the world’s fourth largest economy, California knows that when skilled talent from around the world joins our workforce, it drives our state forward," Bonta said.
The lawsuit was filed on Friday in Massachusetts federal court. This will be the third challenge to the Trump regime's H1-B visa fee hike. Earlier the Chamber of Commerce and a coalition of unions, employers and religious groups, had challenged the increased fee in court.
Violation of law, argue US states
The US states which filed the lawsuit have argued that the H1-B Visa policy implemented by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that the policy was a "clear violation of law". A press release by the California Attorney's office said, "This is a is a clear violation of the law because it imposes a massive fee outside of the bounds of what is authorized by Congress and contrary to Congress’s intent in establishing the H-1B program, bypasses required rulemaking procedures, and exceeds the authority granted to the executive branch under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA)."
The lawsuit argues that the Visa fee hike exceeds the actual cost of processing H-1B petitions. Earlier any employer would have to pay USD 960 to USD 7,595 in statutory and regulatory fees when applying for an initial H-1B petition.
During a press conference, Bonta attacked Trump saying that no President had the right to destabilize schools, hospitals and universities on a whim, and no president can ignore the co-equal branch of government, of Congress, ignore the Constitution or ignore the law.
The states which have filed the lawsuit have also argued that the H-1B Visa was hiked without following proper procedures. They said that "the notice-and-comment process required by the APA was bypassed and they did not even consider the range of the impact of this move.