Attorney General Bonta Opposes Another Attempt by Trump Administration to Impose Unlawful Taxes on H-1B Visas

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today co-led a coalition of 22 attorneys general in filing a comment letter opposing the Trump Administration’s proposed rule that once again attempts to impose a $100,000 tax on petitions for H-1B visas. H-1B visas allow state and local governments to address nationwide shortages of critical service providers like teachers, physicians, and nurses by hiring highly skilled workers who are not U.S. residents. In the comment letter, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argue that the proposed rule would damage states’ ability to fill staff shortages in crucial fields, would overstep the administration’s legal authority, lacks proper justification, and does not provide enough time for public feedback.

“The Trump Administration is once again overstepping its legal authority and imposing unjustified burdens on state and local governments and on their residents,” said Attorney General Bonta. “This proposed rule would undermine California and other states’ abilities to ensure that core services our residents rely on, such as education and healthcare, are fully staffed with highly trained personnel. We will not allow the Trump Administration to undermine workers, employers, and the broader economy in pursuit of its hateful anti-immigrant agenda. We will continue to fight to protect crucial employment programs from unjustified, unlawful attacks.”

On September 19, 2025, President Trump issued a proclamation ordering an unprecedented $100,000 tax on new H-1B visa petitions, undermining the very purpose of the H-1B visa by making it harder to address severe labor shortages in critical fields such as education and healthcare and ultimately worsening the staffing crisis. In December 2025, Attorney General Bonta led a multistate coalition in filing a lawsuit challenging the tax. In June 2026, he secured a ruling holding the tax unconstitutional and striking it down. 

On August 25, 2026, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would impose a tax of $103,265 on non-cap-exempt employers, even though the administration’s recent attempt to impose a similar tax had been struck down. In today’s comment letter, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition urge USCIS to withdraw the proposed rule. Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argue that:

• The proposed H-1B visa tax would substantially harm states’ abilities to remedy staff shortages in fields crucial to their residents’ well-being, including primary and secondary schooling and healthcare. 
• The proposed rule exceeds USCIS’s legal authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
• The proposed rule constitutes the imposition of a tax, which requires authorization from Congress that USCIS has not received. 
• The proposed rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act, as USCIS both fails to adequately justify the burdens the tax would impose on states and fails to consider less harmful alternatives.
• USCIS has provided an unusually short 30-day period for public comment on the proposed rule without providing proper justification.

Attorney General Bonta and Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell co-led the filing of today’s comment letter. They are joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

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