U.S. President Donald Trump discusses renovations to the Lincoln Reflecting Pool and makes an announcement on "Beautiful, Clean Coal" on Thursday in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C. A federal judge on Monday ruled that a H-1B visa fee imposed by Trump is illegal. Photo by Samuel Corum/UPI | License Photo
June 8 (UPI) -- A federal judge ruled Monday that a $100,000 visa fee for U.S.companies seeking highly skilled workers from other countries is illegal. This voids the requirement set by President Donald Trump by a presidential proclamation in September.
Judge Leo Sorokin said the policy violated the U.S. Constitution and the federal Administrative Procedure Act and that only Congress has the authority to change federal immigration policy to require the fee. The Trump administration says it will appeal the ruling.
"The president lacked the power or delegated authority to impose a tax on H-1B petitions," Sorokin said in his decision, CNN reported.
A group of Democratic state attorneys brought the case in December. Letitia James, New York attorney general, was among them.
