California Leads 20 State Suit to Block $100,000 H1B Fee

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell filed a federal complaint on December 13, 2025, leading a coalition of 20 states that seeks to enjoin the administration’s September action imposing a $100,000 fee on each new H1B petition. The suit contends the fee exceeds what federal statutes authorize for the H1B program and that the administration unlawfully avoided the notice and comment procedures required by the Administrative Procedure Act.

Joining California and Massachusetts in the challenge are the attorneys general of New Jersey, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin. New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced his state’s participation as part of the 20 state coalition.

The complaint advances a twofold legal argument. First, plaintiffs assert the executive branch lacks statutory authority to levy a fee of this magnitude on new H1B petitions and that the charge runs counter to congressional intent behind the program. Second, the filing alleges the administration circumvented notice and comment rulemaking, rendering the fee procedurally unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act. The states also allege the $100,000 figure far outstrips actual government processing costs for H1B petitions, a point the complaint uses to buttress claims of arbitrariness and capriciousness.

The plaintiffs frame the fee as more than an abstract statutory dispute. H1B visas enable U.S. employers to hire workers for specialized roles, the complaint says, including physicians, researchers, nurses and teachers whose labor helps sustain health care, public education and higher education systems. State officials and industry observers warn that the fee would impose a prohibitive burden on employers that recruit international talent, potentially deepening workforce shortages and disrupting key sectors from Bay Area technology firms to university research programs and hospital staffing.

The litigation joins parallel challenges from business and labor groups. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a coalition of unions, employers and religious organizations have already sued to block the fee, and a federal judge in Washington, D.C. is reported to have a hearing scheduled next week in the Chamber’s case. Legal observers note litigation over H1B restrictions has produced shifting procedural outcomes in recent years, including a prior case that became moot after a change in policy in 2021.

California’s filing follows a pattern of aggressive state litigation against the current administration. Bonta’s office has filed multiple suits, with the office reporting 49 actions since January. The new complaint underscores a broader institutional contest over the boundaries of executive authority to reshape immigration policy without congressional action.

The federal court will now determine whether the states can prevent the fee from taking effect while the underlying legal questions proceed. The case promises to test not only the specific mechanics of H1B fee setting but also the limits of unilateral executive changes to a statutory immigration framework that Congress has long managed. Journalists and stakeholders should consult the filed complaint for docket details, assignment and specific relief sought.