Trump Wants H-1B Recipients to Pay Through the Nose

Months after a judge threw out the administration’s scheme to charge $100,000 to obtain a worker visa, it’s back proposing a $103,000 fee.

Donald Trump’s administration has a new plan to turn the U.S. immigration system into a moneymaking scheme, ensuring that legal pathways to citizenship are out of reach for low-income immigrants.

The Department of Homeland Security proposed a new rule Monday that would establish a $103,265 fee for immigrants petitioning for a H-1B worker visa.

The proposed fee would be applied to all H-1B visa petitioners, including those already in the United States, according to Aaron Reichlin-Melchick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council.

“This fee would serve as a dedicated revenue mechanism to help recover a portion of the federal government’s costs of administering the lawful immigration system,” according to a federal notice.

The money raised from the fee would be directed to DHS, the Department of Labor, the Department of State, and the Department of Justice. Clearly, the rule is designed as a deterrent as the fee is prohibitively expensive for all but the most affluent.

In June, a federal judge blocked Trump’s original $100,000 H-1B visa fee for employers, finding that the fee was an illegal tax on businesses. It’s not clear why this new proposal wouldn’t be subject to a similar adjudication, as only Congress has the authority to impose taxes—not the president.

Trump has continued to undermine America’s ability to attract and retain talent from other countries. The administration’s racist replacement theories are accomplishing little other than to make our nation poorer and sicker. Meanwhile, one study estimates that H-1B visa holders who arrived between 1990 and 2020 were responsible for 30 percent to 50 percent of all productivity growth in the U.S. economy during that period—as well as spurring wage growth for native workers.

Republican Shirks AIPAC Donation Amid Contentious Michigan Race

After the organization’s deep pockets failed to derail Abdul El-Sayed’s primary election, his Republican opponent isn’t sure the money is worth the risk.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, has become so toxic that even embattled Republicans are shying away from its donations.

The pro-Israel lobbying group has spent millions on an ad campaign to assist Mike Rogers, the Republican nominee for Senate in Michigan, in a contentious midterm race against Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed. But Rogers and his team are wavering on the proposed ad expenditure, concerned that any ties to the organization might hurt rather than help him come November, The New York Times reported Monday.

Rogers reportedly brought up his reservations during a meeting last week with the AIPAC board chair, Michael Tuchin. Rogers did not explicitly say that he did not want AIPAC involved in his race, but encouraged the United Democracy Project, the organization’s super PAC, to ease up on its media plan and “give more serious thought to whether the organization is the best messenger” against El-Sayed, according to a source that spoke with the Times.

Bobby Schostak, Rogers’s adviser and fundraising consultant, said in a statement that their campaign welcomes support from AIPAC’s community.

“We have support from the Jewish and pro-Israel community,”........

© New Republic