{"text":[[{"start":8.35,"text":"The Trump administration’s decision to add a $100,000 fee to H-1B visa applications for highly skilled foreign workers is unlawful, a federal judge ruled on Monday. "}],[{"start":17.299999999999997,"text":"Judge Leo Sorokin ordered Donald Trump’s proclamation sharply increasing the cost of the non-immigrant work visas must be rescinded. The Department of Justice is expected to appeal but declined to confirm whether it would pursue further legal action."}],[{"start":32.599999999999994,"text":"Tech companies and specialist industries widely use H-1B visas, and more than 400,000 were approved last year. Before the fee increase, the government charged $215 to register for the H-1B visa lottery and $780 more for employers sponsoring visa applicants. "}],[{"start":52.74999999999999,"text":"The Trump administration imposed the six-figure fee in September in an attempt to limit US companies using foreign workers. "}],[{"start":60.849999999999994,"text":"In his proclamation, Trump cited reports that US tech companies had laid off “qualified and highly skilled” American workers and replaced them with thousands of H-1B visa holders. "}],[{"start":71.39999999999999,"text":"The $100,000 fee, which was to be paid annually by employers, according to commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, “will ensure that the people [companies] are bringing in are actually very highly skilled, and that they are not replaceable by American workers”, White House staff secretary Will Scharf said in September."}],[{"start":91,"text":"However, Sorokin ruled the fee amounted to an unauthorised tax, and infringed on Congress’s authority to raise funds. The judge wrote that an “obvious purpose” of the policy is to raise revenue. "}],[{"start":103.6,"text":"“Here, the substance and application of the $100,000 payment reveal that it is a tax, regardless of what the payment is called,” he said. "}],[{"start":111.94999999999999,"text":"In a statement, a DoJ spokesperson noted that another court had previously ruled in the Trump administration’s favour on the fee and said the department would “continue to hold companies accountable when they unlawfully exploit American workers and fail to use the H-1B programme as intended”."}],[{"start":129.1,"text":"“The Department of Justice is committed to protecting American workers and fully supports President Trump’s America First agenda,” the spokesperson added."}],[{"start":137.5,"text":"The DoJ had argued the action was lawful under the president’s broad executive powers, including sweeping “immigration and commerce powers” and the discretion to restrict the entry of noncitizens."}],[{"start":150,"text":"But the judge rejected its argument, saying the justice department had failed to provide legal support for its position. “Ambiguous language is not sufficient for establishing the delegation of the taxing power,” Sorokin said."}],[{"start":162.9,"text":"A ruling by a judge in Washington last year found that Trump did have the authority to impose the $100,000 fee. However, that ruling came before the Supreme Court rejected the bulk of Trump’s trade tariffs, a decision cited by Sorokin in his ruling."}],[{"start":178.20000000000002,"text":"The proclamation read: “The high numbers of relatively low-wage workers in the H-1B programme undercut the integrity of the programme and are detrimental to American workers’ wages and labour opportunities, especially at the entry level, in industries where such low-paid H-1B workers are concentrated."}],[{"start":196.15,"text":"“These abuses also prevent American employers in other industries from utilising the H-1B programme in the manner in which it was intended: to fill jobs for which highly skilled and educated American workers are unavailable,” it added."}],[{"start":217.15,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1780970331_2380.mp3"}