Attorney General Kwame Raoul has joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general in submitting an amicus brief against the Trump administration’s $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa petitions for highly-skilled foreign workers. The brief was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in support of Global Nurse Force’s lawsuit challenging the fee.
This action follows a previous complaint by Raoul and the coalition earlier in December contesting the same policy. According to Attorney General Raoul, “The $100,000 visa fee threatens the quality of education, healthcare, and other core services available in Illinois and across the country. The H-1B visa is essential to alleviate nationwide labor shortages in vital fields, including nursing, medicine and teaching, and this unlawful fee is devastating to our residents. I will continue to advocate for the protection of this critical program alongside fellow attorneys general.”
The Trump administration announced the new $100,000 fee via executive proclamation in September 2025. The policy applies to any new H-1B visa application submitted after September 21, 2025. It also allows the Secretary of Homeland Security broad authority to decide which petitions are subject to or exempt from the fee. The coalition argues that this measure could be used selectively against certain employers.
In their brief, Raoul and his colleagues emphasize that H-1B workers play an important role in state economies and help address shortages in areas like healthcare and education. For example, projections indicate that without foreign-trained physicians, there could be a shortage of 86,000 doctors nationwide by 2036. Educators make up a significant portion of H-1B recipients; nearly 30,000 educators have obtained these visas with many colleges relying on them for research and teaching roles.
Illinois schools have faced challenges filling positions as well. During the 2023-2024 school year, there were 3,684 unfilled teaching jobs statewide. Some schools depend on hiring through the H-1B program for specialized staff such as bilingual teachers and special education professionals.
The coalition’s amicus brief also states that implementing such a substantial fee without proper notice-and-comment rulemaking was unlawful because it denied states an opportunity to voice concerns about potential economic harm as well as impacts on health care and education systems.
Other states joining Illinois include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington D.C., Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
