Oregon Joins Lawsuit Against Trump’s $100,000 Visa Fee That Would Hit Major Employers Like Nike Hardest
A coalition of 19 States, including Oregon, filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration yesterday over its unlawful policy imposing a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa petitions that would create a costly barrier for employers- especially public sector and government employers- applying to fill these positions.
Source: Oregon Department of Justice media release dated Dec 12 2025
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Prohibitively High Specialized Work Visa Fees Could Strain The Economy
To alleviate nationwide labor shortages, H-1B visas allow US employers to hire highly skilled foreign national workers in roles that require specialized skills, like physicians, researchers, nurses, and other vital workers. Each year, the US approves 85,000 H-1B visas for specially skilled workers.
Source: Congressional Research Service summary citing USCIS FY2023 annual report
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Oregon’s colleges, universities, and research institutions also rely on skilled international workers to keep labs running, courses on track, and innovation moving forward. The massive fee would make it almost impossible for companies to source suitable staff and institutions to hire the experts they need.
AG Rayfield said:
“This threatens Oregon’s ability to compete, educate, and grow.”
On September 19, President Trump issued a proclamation ordering an unprecedented $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa petitions. The states allege that the policy implemented by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a clear violation of the law because it:
- Imposes a massive fee outside of the bounds of what is authorized by Congress and contrary to Congress’s intent in establishing the H-1B program.
- Bypasses required rulemaking procedures.
- Exceeds the authority granted to the executive branch under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
| Claim | What states allege |
|---|---|
| Fee authority | A $100,000 charge is outside what Congress authorized and not tied to agency processing costs |
| Rulemaking | Policy was issued without required notice and comment procedures |
| APA limits | Executive branch exceeded authority under the Administrative Procedure Act |
| Relief sought | Block the fee and stop DHS from implementing the policy |
How $100k Visa Visa Could Impact Oregon
In Oregon, companies like Nike, which heavily rely on H-1B workers, could suffer.
Employers have secured around 885 new H-1B visas in 2025, with about 225 for Nike, down from nearly 1,400 last year.
Despite economic research from the last decade broadly demonstrating the program’s financial benefits, President Trump increased the fee, saying the program has been misused. Trump said, the visas have “been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor.”
Yet most H-1B visas go to highly skilled technology workers able to perform complex tasks in fields such as artificial intelligence or medicine.
Across the US, major technology firms like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft employ tens of thousands of H-1B visa workers. In Oregon, tech firms are a massive, crucial part of the state’s economy, and the fee could have negative repercussions.