Washington, D.C. — A broad coalition of labor unions, health care providers, schools, faith groups, and individual workers suing to stop the Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful “Innovation Ban” is highlighting new government guidance that appears to walk back the policy’s most extreme provision. 

The H-1B visa program was created by Congress to provide a critical path for the United States to attract highly skilled professionals from around the world to fill urgent needs in the economy and public services to strengthen American innovation. Under the program, U.S. employers can hire qualified foreign talent — such as doctors, nurses, engineers, teachers, and researchers — after a rigorous review process.

A lawsuit was filed in the District Court for the Northern District of California after President Trump abruptly issued a Presidential Proclamation on September 19, 2025, imposing a $100,000 fee on every new H-1B petition—a sudden, unprecedented policy that took effect just 36 hours later, upending hospitals, classrooms, congregations, and workplaces nationwide and forcing workers to rush back to the United States or cancel travel. The Proclamation dealt a severe blow not only to H-1B recipients and their employers, but also to the communities who depend on their services.

Today, two weeks after the coalition filed suit, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) quietly updated its website to reflect that, in general, the $100,000 fee may not apply to individuals already in the United States who are changing from certain immigration statuses to H-1B, if USCIS approves the change. Although questions about implementation remain, this is welcome news for many students and workers in the United States and their employers, who feared that without relief, hospitals would lose medical staff, churches would lose pastors, classrooms would lose teachers, universities would lose researchers, and industries across the country risked losing key innovators. 

The plaintiff coalition includes Global Nurse Force; Global Village Academy Collaborative; Society of the Divine Word; the Fathers of St. Charles; Church on the Hill; International Union,United Auto-Aerospace Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW International); UAW Local 4811; American Association of University Professors (AAUP); Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU (CIR/SEIU), a citizen of the United Kingdom residing in the Appalachia region, and a citizen of India residing in the Northern District of California. Plaintiffs are represented by Democracy Forward, Justice Action Center, South Asian American Justice Collaborative (SAAJCO), Kuck Baxter LLC, Joseph & Hall, P.C., and IMMpact Litigation.

The coalition has issued the following joint statement:

“We are encouraged that the government appears to recognize the immediate harm this policy causes to workers already in the United States, including many of our members and employees. But this guidance is limited, unclear and fails to fix the core problem: the Trump-Vance administration is still trying to impose a $100,000 price tag on immigration without authority from Congress. 

“Our communities cannot plan around uncertainty, nor can we allow life-saving care, student learning, and scientific research to be held hostage to shifting, arbitrary rules. Our lawsuit will continue until the proclamation is blocked and the rule of law restored.”

The USCIS guidance does not rescind the proclamation and the $100,000 fee continues to apply to highly skilled professionals coming to the United States from around the world and to certain individuals inside the United States not covered by the guidance. The coalition’s ongoing case asks the court to block the $100,000 fee requirement, restore predictability, protect workers, and prevent the President from overriding Congress’s authority over immigration policies.

The case is Global Nurse Force et al. v. Trump et al.

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