A US judge upheld President Donald Trump’s $100,000 fee on new applications for H-1B visas, dealing a setback to tech companies that have long benefitted from recruiting highly skilled foreign nationals.
The White House’s announcement in September surprised employers; opponents argue the fee will hurt the country’s high-tech sector: “There will be a generation of talent out there in the world that will go to other countries,” an immigration lawyer said.
The decision hits India particularly hard, capping a year defined by “the American dream-turned-nightmare,” an India-based Bloomberg journalist wrote.
The Trump administration’s broad immigration crackdown has made students, workers, and tourists more reluctant to go to the US, while some big American firms are reportedly moving more positions to India.
