Some House Republicans are pushing back against President Donald Trump’s $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applications.
“I don’t think a president should just be able to arbitrarily change policy that’s significant,” Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska told NOTUS. “In the end, Congress has a huge role when it comes to immigration policy.”
The Nebraska lawmaker is one of three Republicans who signed onto a bipartisan letter Tuesday urging Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to work with lawmakers on changes to the program for high-skilled workers. They specifically took issue with the dramatically higher price tag on employers filing petitions for new H1-B hires, which went into effect on Sept. 21.
In an environment where it’s increasingly rare for GOP members to push back against Trump’s policies, H-1B visas have highlighted divisions within the party. Trump and the more restrictionist wing of the Republican Party argue H-1B visas are too often used and take jobs from Americans. But other conservatives say businesses need the workers — and that making it harder to get them hurts U.S. companies.
Republican Rep. Jay Obernolte and Democratic Rep. Sam Liccardo, both of California, spearheaded the letter. Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar of Florida also signed on, along with Democratic Reps. Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia and Greg Stanton of Arizona.
“We are concerned that the recent proclamation related to H-1B visa petitions will create significant challenges for U.S. employers and overall weaken our competitiveness,” the letter states.
The letter cites the harm to startups and small tech companies. The top seven companies that have the highest number of employees with H-1B visas are tech giants, such as Amazon, Google, Meta and Apple, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data.
Salazar said Wednesday the visa system needed to be speedier because American industries need workers while touting her bipartisan immigration legislation, the Dignity Act, which would provide legal status for eligible unauthorized immigrants who have lived in the country for years.
“We do not want any American companies to be abusing the system,” she said. “If you have an American worker that can fill that job, then you have to hire him or her. But if you need that foreign individual, then let’s go through this process.”
The $100,000 fee has also drawn legal challenges from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a coalition of labor unions, health care employers, schools and others.
USCIS announced Monday that the $100,000 fee would not apply to immigrants already in the country, such as those graduating from American universities.
“This guidance is limited, unclear and fails to fix the core problem: the Trump-Vance administration is still trying to impose a $100,000 price tag on immigration without authority from Congress,” the coalition suing the Trump administration wrote in a press release.
Bacon said the guidance provided a smart exception.
“Does it make the policy better? Yeah, but I still don’t think it was a wise change going to the $100,000,” he said.
Pointing to labor needs in rural hospitals, Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, told NOTUS last month that health care systems needed more clarity on the change.
The Department of Commerce and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.