WASHINGTON, 24 October (H.S.): The Trump administration on Thursday mounted a staunch defense of its contentious new $100,000 fee for H-1B visas, vowing to fight multiple legal challenges from the business community and asserting the policy is essential to curb rampant fraud and protect American jobs.

Speaking at a White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed the H-1B system has been exploited and spammed with fraud, which she argued has driven down wages for American workers . The president’s main priority has always been to put American workers first and to strengthen our visa system, Leavitt said. These actions are lawful, they are necessary, and we’ll continue to fight this battle in court .

The administration’s defiant stance comes as it faces a wave of litigation. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has filed a lawsuit arguing the new fee is unlawful because it violates the Immigration and Nationality Act, which stipulates that such fees must be based on the government’s processing costs .

The new $100,000 visa fee will make it cost-prohibitive for U.S. employers, especially start-ups and small and midsize businesses, to utilize the H-1B program, said Neil Bradley, Chief Policy Officer at the Chamber.

A separate coalition of unions, employers, and religious groups has also sued, calling the fee arbitrary and capricious. The H-1B visa is critical for U.S. companies, particularly in the tech sector, to hire highly skilled foreign workers. Indian IT professionals are the largest recipients of these visas, and tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are expected to be heavily impacted by the new policy.

The fee represents a dramatic increase from the current processing costs, which typically run to a few thousand dollars.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar