US District Judge Beryl Howell, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, dismissed arguments put forward by the US Chamber of Commerce and ruled on December 23 that President Donald Trump had the legal
authority to impose the $100,000 H-1B visa fee.
Judge Howell ruled that Trump acted under an express statutory grant of authority, according to a Bloomberg report. The legal battle over the H-1B visa fee has now moved to an appeals court after the Chamber of Commerce filed a notice of appeal this week, challenging the District Court’s decision. A federal judge had earlier refused to block the measure.
Howell, who serves on the US District Court for the District of Columbia, rejected the Chamber’s argument that the fee violates federal immigration law and exceeds the fee-setting authority granted to the executive branch by Congress.
In its October lawsuit, the Chamber had also argued that the presidential proclamation unlawfully overrides existing statutes governing visa costs.
Announced by presidential proclamation in September, the fee is part of President Donald Trump’s broader effort to curb what he has described as abuse of the H-1B visa programme, which allows US employers to hire college-educated foreign workers for specialised roles, particularly in technology, engineering and healthcare.
“Though the Chamber had a solid judge, Obama-appointee Judge Beryl Howell, who’s been tough on the Trump administration, she handed Trump a sweeping victory. If Judge Howell didn’t find legal defects in the novel proclamation, we doubt the DC Circuit or US Supreme Court would either,” litigation analyst Matthew Schettenhelm, associated with Bloomberg Intelligence, highlighted in a note.
