Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, LITIGATION NEWS, TRENDS—Court allows Trump to proceed with $100K price tag on H-1B visas, (Jan 5, 2026)

By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.

Plaintiffs have already appealed the decision to the D.C. Circuit.

In a decision issued in late December in Chamber of Commerce v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Judge Beryl A. Howell upheld Presidential Proclamation 10973, which requires employers to pay $100,000 before the Department of Homeland Security will process petitions for new H-1B visas. Issued in September 2025, the proclamation aimed to curb perceived abuse of the H-1B program, citing concerns that low-wage workers from abroad displace domestic U.S. labor and purportedly undermine national security. The Chamber of Commerce and the Association of American Universities, which filed suit challenging the measure, argued that the Proclamation was ultra vires and violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), claiming it contradicted statutory fee structures and disrupted Congress’s design for the H-1B program.

Any restrictions on entry. Judge Howell rejected these arguments, finding the President acted within broad authority granted by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), specifically 8 U.S.C. §§ 1182(f) and 1185(a), which empower the President to suspend or restrict entry of noncitizens whenever such entry is deemed detrimental to U.S. interests. Judge Howell emphasized that the statute’s language—allowing “any restrictions” on entry—encompasses monetary conditions, even if unprecedented. The Proclamation’s findings, supported by labor statistics, satisfied statutory prerequisites set by Congress, and its temporary, entry-focused nature complied with legal limits.

Specifically, Howell noted that, among other findings, the President had explained that “[t]he high numbers of relatively low-wage workers in the H-1B program... are detrimental to American workers’ wages and labor opportunities, especially at the entry level, in industries where such low-paid H-1B workers are concentrated,” and “present[s] a national security threat by discouraging Americans from pursuing careers in science and technology.”

“The parties’ vigorous debate over the ultimate wisdom of this political judgment is not within the province of the courts—so long as the actions dictated by the policy decision and articulated in the Proclamation fit within the confines of the law,” Judge Howell explained, “the Proclamation must be upheld.”

APA violation harmless. As to the APA claim, the court held that agencies merely implemented a lawful presidential directive and lacked discretion to deviate, rendering any failure to engage in notice-and-comment rulemaking harmless. While acknowledging plaintiffs’ concerns about economic harm and reduced access to skilled foreign talent, the court stressed that such policy judgments lie with the political branches, not the judiciary.

The plaintiffs—the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America and Association of American Universities—have appealed to the D.C. Circuit.

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