On September 19, 2025, President Trump signed a Presidential Proclamation requiring H-1B visa applications to be accompanied by a $100,000 fee per employee. This prohibitive and unconscionable amount is designed to shut down the H-1B visa framework that U.S. employers rely on to hire much-needed workers from other countries.

The problem is that this unilateral action is unconstitutional. There is a process that must be followed under administrative law, and since it was not followed in this case, it will inevitably be struck down.

Here are the required steps for any visa or immigration application fees to be changed or increased:

• USCIS conducts a fee review.
• DHS publishes a Proposed Rule (NPRM) in the Federal Register.
• Public comment period (30–60 days).
• DHS publishes a Final Rule (with responses to comments).
• OMB/OIRA approval is required.
• Rule becomes effective (usually 30+ days later).
• Courts may block or delay the rule if challenged.

This proclamation is just another scare tactic to convey the same tired Trump message as always: the U.S. government does not want foreigners in the U.S., unless they are filthy rich. The irony? On the very same day, another Proclamation was signed allowing wealthy foreign nationals to buy their green cards—or, in this case, their “Trump Green Cards.”

While both of these Proclamations will inevitably be struck down, they confirm this administration’s utter lack of comprehension that human capital drives financial gain for the country. The same H-1B engineers that Trump rails against don’t just power the major companies—they are also the brains behind the “giants-in-waiting,” the for-now unknown startups I work with every day that will change the world.

These Proclamations are nothing more than a slap in the face to what truly “Makes America Great”: the melting pot of cultures and nationalities that together create an unstoppable force. Unstoppable, that is—unless President Trump succeeds in his relentless efforts to sabotage it.