Attorney General James Takes Action to Protect Immigrant Workers

December 12, 2025

NEW YORK - New York Attorney General Letitia James today joined a coalition of 18 other attorneys general in suing the Trump administration to protect the H-1B visa program, which allows highly-trained immigrants to temporarily work in the United States and fill critical roles in health care, education, technology, and other fields. In September, the administration suddenly announced that a $100,000 fee would be imposed on all new H-1B applications, a massive increase over the visa's typical fees, which have historically been just several thousand dollars. H-1B visa holders fill essential roles as teachers, nurses, doctors, researchers, engineers, and more in communities across the country. The new fee threatens to completely upend the program and make it effectively inaccessible for government and nonprofit employers who rely on H-1B visa holders to provide essential services. In a lawsuit filed today in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Attorney General James and the coalition argue that imposing this new fee is unlawful and violates the Administrative Procedure Act.

"H-1B visas allow talented doctors, nurses, teachers, and other workers to serve communities in need across our country," said Attorney General James. "The administration's illegal attempt to ruin this program will make it harder for New Yorkers to get health care, disrupt our children's education, and hurt our economy. I will keep fighting to stop this chaos and cruelty targeting immigrant communities."

Since the 1950s, the United States has had a visa program that allows skilled workers to temporarily live in the U.S. and work in specialized fields. The current version of the H-1B program was created in the 1990s and allows employers to petition to hire workers in a "specialty occupation" for a maximum of six years. H-1B workers are employed in a variety of fields in both the public and private sectors, and the program plays a crucial role in filling labor shortages in medicine, education, and other highly skilled industries.

Attorney General James and the coalition argue that the administration's new fee on H-1B visas will severely restrict states' ability to hire new workers under the program to address labor shortages, disrupting access to education, health care, and other critical services. This shortage of workers would be particularly devastating for rural and underserved communities already facing shrinking workforces. In New York's 16 rural counties, there are currently four primary care physicians for every 10,000 people. New York's hospitals already face a pervasive nursing shortage estimated to reach 40,000 nurses by 2030. A reduction in H-1B visa holders would only exacerbate this shortage, as over a third of all health care workers in New York are immigrants. Nationwide, the American Medical Association estimates the United States will face a shortage of 86,000 physicians by 2036 - a shortage that H-1B workers will be critical in filling.

Limiting H-1B visas will also cause a shortage of teachers, researchers, and other workers critical to the country's education system. Across the country, at least 930 colleges and universities employ staff on H-1B visas. More than half of these institutions are public four-year universities, and more than 10 percent are medical schools. In New York, the State University of New York (SUNY) employs 693 employees on H-1B visas, including many who serve students in rural and suburban areas of New York state. As Attorney General James and the coalition argue, limiting access to H-1B visas will lead to more crowded classrooms for students and disrupt critical research at leading universities. Other critical industries in New York, such as technology, finance, and the arts, also rely on H-1B visa holders to fill essential roles. Across the state, more than 13,000 people on H-1B visas work in these sectors.

Attorney General James and the coalition argue that the administration's attempt to restrict the H-1B program with a sudden massive increase in fees contravenes the Immigration and Nationality Act, which established the program, as well as the Administrative Procedure Act. H-1B fees must be set by Congress or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after undergoing the proper rulemaking process. Neither of those happened in this case. In fact, the administration's imposition of the new $100,000 fee was made without any advance notice to the public or input from affected groups. The lawsuit seeks an order declaring the administration's actions unlawful and preventing the $100,000 fee policy from being enforced.

Joining Attorney General James in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.