A federal judge has struck down President Donald Trump’s requirement that applicants pay a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas, dealing a blow to a policy aimed at tightening access to the popular work visa programme.
According to CNN, US District Judge Leo Sorokin ruled that Trump lacked the legal authority to impose the fee, saying only Congress can create such a requirement. The judge described the charge as a tax and noted that lawmakers never granted the executive branch power to introduce it unilaterally.
The policy was introduced last year as part of efforts to curb what Trump described as overuse of the H-1B programme, which allows highly skilled foreign professionals to work in the United States.
The Justice Department has yet to comment on the ruling.
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