Congresswoman Lateefah Simon’s Statement on New H-1B Visa Annual Fee

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congresswoman Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) released the following statement following President Donald Trump's proclamation imposing an annual $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa holders:

"The East Bay has long been at the center of innovation. President Trump's announcement of a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas is reckless. While the program needs reform, Bay Area hospitals, companies and start-ups, world-class institutions like the University of California, Berkeley, and research labs alike at the cutting edge of medical research will lose talented and critical staff.

"This new fee functions more as an arbitrary financial barrier than a thoughtful policy solution. It does not address the core challenges of our immigration system, like long backlogs, a lack of transparency, and a mismatch between domestic labor market needs and visa allocations. It does not address the fact that this Administration is slashing education funding and workforce development opportunities that would foster American talent. Put simply, this is an impulsive stunt that will discourage innovation, burden companies with unnecessary costs, and risk pushing talent abroad.

"This Administration's actions will deepen the inequality and unfairness already woven into our immigration system. Just look at the Trump Gold Card program that was also recently announced - this program explicitly favors immense wealth and prioritizes resources to the ultra-rich. We know that federal agency resources are limited and prioritizing a visa bribe program will crowd out processing in industries critical to the wellbeing of our country."

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