By Daniel Wiessner
(Reuters) -The largest U.S. business lobbying group filed a lawsuit on Thursday challenging President Donald Trump's $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers.
The lawsuit by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which says it represents 300,000 businesses, is the group's first against the Trump administration since the Republican president took office for a second term in January.
The Chamber says in the lawsuit that Trump's September proclamation imposing the fee
on new H-1B visa applications was beyond his powers and would disrupt the complex visa system created by Congress.
HIGHER COSTS OR FEWER WORKERS
The H-1B program allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers in specialty fields, and technology companies in particular rely heavily on workers who receive H-1B visas. The program offers 65,000 visas annually, with another 20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees, approved for three to six years.
The fee would force businesses that rely on the H-1B program to choose between dramatically increasing their labor costs or hiring fewer highly-skilled workers, the Chamber said.
"Many members of the U.S. Chamber are bracing for the need to scale back or entirely walk away from the H-1B program, to the detriment of their investors, customers, and their own existing employees," the group said in the lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C., federal court.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The H-1B fee is being challenged in at least one other lawsuit filed this month by unions, employers, and religious groups in a California federal court.
WORKER REPLACEMENT OR SHORTAGE SOLUTION?
Critics of H-1Bs and other work visa programs say they are often used to replace American workers with cheaper foreign labor. But business groups and major companies have said H-1Bs are a critical means of addressing a shortage of qualified American workers.
Employers who sponsor H-1B workers currently typically pay between $2,000 and $5,000 in fees, depending on the size of the company and other factors. The Chamber, in its lawsuit, said most H-1B petitions cost less than $3,600.
Trump's order bars new H-1B recipients from entering the United States unless the employer sponsoring their visa has made an additional $100,000 payment. The fee will first apply to H-1B applicants selected in an annual lottery that takes place in March.
Trump in his unprecedented order invoked his power under federal immigration law to restrict the entry of certain foreign nationals that would be detrimental to the interests of the United States. He said the "large-scale replacement of American workers" through the H-1B program threatens the country's economic and national security.
But the Chamber argued in its lawsuit that the $100,000 payment does not amount to an entry on restriction because it is paid by businesses and not visa recipients.
(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New YorkEditing by Rod Nickel)
