Trump's H-1B visa move comes after congressional inaction

Source: Roll Call

Posted September 23, 2025 at 12:40pm


President Donald Trump’s proclamation creating a $100,000 fee for the hiring of foreign workers through the H-1B visa program came after years of congressional inaction on the immigration system, a move some experts say exceeds his authority to act without Congress and will likely be challenged in court.

The president’s proclamation said the H-1B program was created to bring temporary workers to the U.S. for high-skilled functions, “but it has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor.” That echoes the concerns of Sens. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, and Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., who for years put forward bipartisan bills that would, among other changes, place new wage, recruitment, and attestation requirements on employers seeking to hire with those visas.

Their bill, known as the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act, sought to allow the Labor secretary to collect a fee on applications but only to use that money for enforcement. The legislation has not been reintroduced this Congress. Grassley reproached the business community over concerns about the increased H-1B fees, saying in a social media post Saturday they should have supported congressional efforts for reform when they had the chance.

“I read tech cos &biz groups dislike Trumps $100,000 H1B fee,” Grassley, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote Saturday. “If they had not opposed over 10yrs SenDurbin &Grassley H1B reform the abuse Trump is trying 2stop would not hv been prob it is 2day+Trump wld not need 2take action I bet u tech companies now regret oppo 2Grassley-Durbin.”

Read more: https://rollcall.com/2025/09/23/trumps-h-1b-visa-move-comes-after-congressional-inaction/