Attorney General Kris Mayes of Arizona has joined a coalition of states in filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration over a new $100,000 fee imposed on H-1B visa petitions. The lawsuit seeks to protect rural schools, the semiconductor industry, and the broader Arizona economy, all of which rely heavily on workers holding H-1B visas.
“This illegal, excessive fee is disastrous for thousands of Arizona employees and will have a devastating effect on our rural school districts, our growing semiconductor industry, and Arizona’s entire economy,” said Attorney General Mayes. “At a time when this economy is already tough enough, the Trump administration wants to shackle schools and businesses already struggling to hire.”
H-1B visa holders are important for many sectors in Arizona. Rural public school systems such as Deer Valley Unified School District, Nogales Unified School District, Douglas Unified School District, Toltec School District No. 22, Buckeye Elementary School District No. 33, and Tuba City Unified School District depend on teachers and staff who are H-1B visa holders. Major technology companies including Intel (2,045 employees), ASML (251 employees), and TSMC (67 employees) also sponsor significant numbers of these workers. Additionally, universities like Arizona State University, University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona employ more than 260 people through H-1B visas.
The new policy was implemented by the Department of Homeland Security after President Trump issued a proclamation on September 19, 2025. The policy applies to applications filed after September 21, 2025. It gives broad discretion to the Secretary of Homeland Security regarding which petitions are subject to or exempt from the fee.
According to the lawsuit filed by Mayes and other attorneys general—including those from California and Massachusetts—the policy violates both the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the U.S. Constitution because it imposes fees not authorized by Congress without following required rulemaking procedures.
Typically, regulatory fees for an initial H-1B petition range from $960 to $7,595. The $100,000 fee set by this policy greatly exceeds what is needed for processing these petitions.
The lawsuit argues that this increased cost would create significant barriers for employers—especially in education and healthcare—trying to fill positions requiring specialized skills with foreign workers via H-1B visas. These sectors are already facing staffing shortages nationwide; in fact nearly three-fourths of U.S. school districts reported trouble filling positions during the 2024–2025 school year.
Hospitals also use H-1B visas to hire physicians and nurses for communities with limited access to medical care. Nearly half of all H-1B recipients working in health occupations during fiscal year 2024 were physicians or surgeons—a key consideration given projections that estimate a shortfall of approximately 86,000 doctors in the United States by 2036.
Mayes joins attorneys general from several other states—including Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota North Carolina New Jersey New York Oregon Rhode Island Vermont Washington Wisconsin—in challenging what they say is an unlawful increase that could undermine essential services provided by government agencies and non-profits.
