SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Organizations are pushing back as the Trump administration implemented a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas, also known as highly skilled worker visas.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says this new fee will harm the economy and filed a lawsuit last Thursday.
The fee could significantly impact San Diego's startup sector, according to local experts.
Habib Hasbini is a lawyer in San Diego who focuses on employment law and immigration. He says the number of clients wanting H-1B visas has fallen, and they don't want to go on camera to talk about it.
"They're afraid that they could basically be targeted to say any unwarranted speech against the government or any politically motivated speech that could be foreseen as saying something that's against the government," Hasbini said.
An H-1B visa is a temporary visa category that allows highly educated foreign workers to pursue fields like mathematics, engineering, technology and medical sciences. It's often one of the only options for foreign workers to work in the U.S. long term.
The Trump administration says the goal of the fee is to encourage domestic hiring, protect American wages and make sure there's merit-based immigration.
John Skrentny is a professor of sociology at UC San Diego and says getting an H-1B hasn't always been a fair process.
"The playing field for getting these visas, which is basically business owners, or even nonprofits and universities, has never been level. It's always been tilted toward well-heeled deep pocket sorts of corporations. And that is because the visa system is extremely complicated. You need money, you need legal council in order to understand this system," Skrentny said.
Skrentny says he expects the $100,000 fee to hit smaller startups. While qualified San Diegans could potentially fill those spots, he expects these smaller companies will take a hit when it comes to employment.
"The little guys, little non-profits that sometimes bring in foreign workers and startups, who are the engine of innovation in the American economy, they've always had a hard time and basically $100,000 fee is going to make it even harder for them," Skrentny said.
Hasbini agrees and says those companies are going to have to look for other ways to find qualified workers.
"Those small startups will start to look for different alternatives than H1B to do their business and grow their business," Hasbini said.
As for the fee's impact on locals, both Skrentny and Hasbini say San Diego may see a tightening in employment numbers in specialized sectors.
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