New York Attorney General, Letitia James, has joined a coalition of 18 other attorneys general in suing the Trump administration to protect the H-1B visa programme that allows highly-trained Caribbean and other immigrants to temporarily work in the United States filling critical roles in health care, education, technology and other fields.
James said that, in September, the administration suddenly announced that a US$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 the lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, 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. 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.’
James has vowed to ‘keep fighting to stop this chaos and cruelty targeting immigrant communities’.
She noted that, since the 1950s, the United States has had a visa programme that allows skilled workers to temporarily live in the US and work in specialised fields.
She said the current version of the H-1B programme was created in the 1990s and allows employers to petition to hire workers in a ‘specialty occupation’ for a maximum of six years.
The New York Attorney General said H-1B workers are employed in a variety of fields in both the public and private sectors, and that the program plays a ‘crucial role in filling labor shortages in medicine, education, and other highly skilled industries.’
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,’ they said.
In New York’s 16 rural counties, James said there are currently four primary care physicians for every 10,000 people and that 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,’ James stressed.
Nationwide, she noted that the American Medical Association estimates that the United States will face a shortage of 86,000 physicians by 2036 – ‘a shortage that H-1B workers will be critical in filling.’
James said 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, she said at least 930 colleges and universities employ staff on H-1B visas and that more than half of these institutions are public four-year universities, and that more than 10 per cent are medical schools.
She said that, 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.
James and the coalition argue that limiting access to H-1B visas will result in more crowded classrooms for students and disrupt critical research at leading universities. They point out that 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 New York State, more than 13,000 people on H-1B visas work in these sectors, the coalition said, further arguing that the administration’s attempt to restrict the H-1B programme with a sudden massive increase in fees contravenes the Immigration and Nationality Act, which established the program, as well as the Administrative Procedure Act.
They say that 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 US$100,000 fee was made without any advance notice to the public or input from affected groups,’ the coalition argued.