New Filings Ask Court To Block “Innovation Ban” and Protect Employers Nationwide From Unreasonable and Arbitrary Costs
San Francisco, Calif. — A broad coalition of schools and health care providers has submitted two legal filings in federal court seeking immediate relief from the Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful $100,000 H-1B fee — an unprecedented and unauthorized cost that has already disrupted medical care, education, and local economies across the country.
In the filings, plaintiffs asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to block enforcement of the $100,000 H-1B fee while the case proceeds, and certify a nationwide class of U.S. employers harmed by the fee, ensuring that relief applies broadly and uniformly.
The plaintiffs bringing the motion for a preliminary injunction are: BAE Industries, Nephrology Associates of the Carolinas, Lower Brule Day School, Global Village Academy Collaborative, Global Nurse Force, and an individual plaintiff who is a citizen of India residing in California. The plaintiffs bringing the class certification motion are: BAE Industries, Nephrology Associates of the Carolinas, and Lower Brule Day School. They are represented by Democracy Forward, Justice Action Center, South Asian American Justice Collaborative (SAAJCO), Kuck Baxter LLC, Joseph & Hall, P.C., IMMpact Litigation, and Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC.
The Trump-Vance administration imposed the $100,000 fee through a September 19, 2025, presidential proclamation, bypassing Congress and upending decades of immigration law governing the H-1B program. The fee took effect just days after it was announced and applies to employers seeking to hire doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, researchers, and other highly skilled professionals — regardless of employer size, mission, or community impact.
The coalition filed suit in this case on October 3, 2025, and shortly after, the administration quietly issued new guidance walking back one of the policy’s most extreme provisions—signaling that the fee may not apply to certain individuals already in the U.S. who are in the process of changing their immigration status. However, the unlawful $100,000 fee remains in effect in many circumstances, harming students, workers, and employers in the United States.
Plaintiffs’ and co-counsel quotes on this matter can be found here.
The motion for preliminary injunction or immediate relief asks the court to pause enforcement of the fee, explaining that it exceeds the president’s authority, violates the Administrative Procedure Act, and causes irreparable harm to employers and the communities they serve. The filing details how rural hospitals are unable to staff physicians, tribal schools cannot afford to hire teachers, and small businesses are losing long-time employees due to the sudden and extreme cost.
Plaintiffs in the case include medical practices serving rural and medically underserved communities, a tribal K-12 school, manufacturing companies, educational institutions, labor organizations, and individual workers whose careers and lives were disrupted overnight. Together, they illustrate the severe harm caused by the administration’s attempt to rewrite immigration law by proclamation.
If allowed to proceed, the $100,000 fee will force employers to forgo essential talent, delay patient care, reduce educational access, and push innovation — and jobs — out of the U.S. The filings ask the court to block the fee, restore the lawful H-1B framework enacted by Congress, and protect employers and communities from further harm.
The case is Global Nurse Force et al. v. Trump et al., pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Read the motion for preliminary injunction here and the motion for class certification here.
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Democracy Forward Foundation is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.