In September 2025, the Trump-Vance administration issued a presidential proclamation that imposed a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications. SAAJCO joined a broad coalition including Justice Action Center, Democracy Forward, and immigration law firms in litigation challenging this.
“South Asians make up the majority of H-1B workers and are part of the fabric of America, staffing rural hospitals, advancing lifesaving research, and driving innovation in businesses across the country. This unlawful fee threatens workers, their families, and the financial and social wellbeing of the communities in which they live,” said Kalpana V. Peddibhotla, Executive Director of the South Asian American Justice Collaborative.
A broad coalition of schools and health care providers has submitted two legal filings in federal court seeking immediate relief from the Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful $100,000 H-1B fee — an unprecedented and unauthorized cost that has already disrupted medical care, education, and local economies across the country.
A coalition of labor unions, health care providers, schools, and religious organizations filed suit today to stop President Trump’s latest anti-immigration power grab: a sweeping executive action that slaps an unlawful new $100,000 price tag on every new H-1B application.
The H1B program brings doctors who serve rural hospitals, cancer researchers working toward lifesaving treatments, and highly skilled professionals who help American businesses innovate and grow. This executive order punishes the very people whose skills strengthen our economy, improve our health, and expand opportunity across the country.
Fighting for the civil and human rights of the South Asian diaspora in the United States
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