CONGRESSMAN BISHOP APPLAUDS U.S. COURT RULING BLOCKING TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S $100,000 VISA FEE

WASHINGTON – Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) applauded the ruling by a federal judge today blocking President Trump’s $100,000 fee for employers’ H-1B visa applications. Judge Leo Sorokin declared in the ruling in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts that “the substance and application of the $100,000 payment reveal that it is a tax” and that Congress had not delegated that power to the executive branch.

 Hospitals and health care centers from underserved and rural areas, including Southwest Georgia, informed members of Congress that they already were facing challenges recruiting enough staff and that the Trump Administration fee made providing care even more expensive to these communities. In response, Bishop, along with Representatives Mike Lawler (R-NY), Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), and Yvette Clarke (D-NY), introduced bipartisan legislation in March 2026 (H.R. 7961), which will exempt physicians and other health care workers from the new $100,000 fee for H-1B petitions. It also prohibits new H-1B fees from being imposed on health care workers that exceed the existing fees under the U.S. Code.

 “The $100,000 fee for employers’ H1-B applications would have discouraged the best and the brightest from coming to America and helping our economy grow and to innovate,” said Congressman Bishop. “While the bipartisan legislation that I introduced earlier this year applied only to health care professionals, the ruling by Judge Sorokin is a victory for every American concerned about attracting the world’s smartest talent to our country.”