White House defends President Trump on H-1B visa fee, prepares to challenge US court’s decision

Washington, June 9. The White House has defended President Donald Trump after the US court canceled the H-1B visa fee of $ 1 lakh. A US federal court struck down the visa fee, finding that the administration exceeded its authority and imposed an illegal tax. After the court’s decision, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told a news agency, “President Trump has the clear legal authority to block the entry of any category of aliens whom he does not believe to be in the best interests of America, and that is exactly what he did.”

Responding to a question, he said, “The H-1B program has been abused for decades and President Trump finally took action to fix it. A federal judge in Washington has already upheld a nearly similar order and the administration is confident the order will be overturned on appeal.” The White House did not say when it would appeal. However, administration officials indicated they would continue to defend the measure as part of President Trump’s broader effort to tighten oversight of the H-1B program.

The response came hours after U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin of Massachusetts invalidated the policy and repealed it nationwide. In his strongly worded decision, Sorokin concluded that the administration imposed the tax without Congress’s permission. “The Court finds that this policy imposes a tax on H-1B petitions without the necessary authority from Congress. There is no legislative authority that would give defendants the authority to impose a $100,000 fee on H-1B petitions,” the judge wrote in his ruling.

The court rejected the administration’s argument that the president’s broad powers under immigration law allow this fee. The judge said that the immigration laws cited by the administration do not give the President the authority to impose such a fee. The decision specifically challenged the legal basis of a proclamation signed by President Trump in September 2025 requiring employers to pay an additional $100,000 to employers filing new H-1B petitions. The court also criticized the agencies that implemented the policy.