US Chamber tests members' will to fight Trump on H-1B visas fee hike

By Emily Birnbaum and Dawn Lim

 

The nation’s largest business lobby is soliciting support from its members for a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its changes to the visa system for skilled foreign workers, setting up a potentially rancorous battle between corporate America and the president.

 

Officials with the US Chamber of Commerce this week polled member companies over whether they’d support a legal challenge to President Donald Trump’s decision to slap a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications, according to three people familiar with the conversations. The group sought feedback from corporations on potential litigation during a series of phone calls and Zoom meetings, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing internal deliberations. 

 

 

The conversations reflect the depth of concern Trump’s new visa policy has stirred among major companies. The Chamber, the nation’s largest business organization by membership and one of Washington’s best-funded lobbying groups, so far has avoided a direct showdown with Trump during his second term, even opting not to join the legal fight against Trump’s tariffs.

 

The Chamber sued the first Trump administration in 2020 over a proclamation suspending new nonimmigrant visas, calling the policy “bad for business.” A federal court sided with the Chamber and invalidated those regulations.

 

The White House’s Sept. 19 announcement of the fee triggered panic within corporate America, even after the administration clarified the fee would only affect new visas. A separate proposal released Tuesday would overhaul the annual lottery for H-1B visas, giving applicants with higher-paying job offers a better chance of being chosen. 

 

The Chamber of Commerce membership talks are preliminary and whether the Chamber will file a lawsuit hinges on whether it can get businesses to back the idea. 

 

Chamber spokesperson Matt Letourneau said in a statement that the group is “examining the legal basis for the proclamation.”

 

“We continue to be inundated with member concerns and are communicating those concerns and questions directly to the administration,” Letourneau said. “There was tremendous concern about the prospect that the proclamation could be applied to current visa holders. We are appreciative of the administration’s ongoing clarifications about the scope of this action.”

 

Large companies have hesitated to come out aggressively against the H-1B policy changes due to fear of punishment or retaliation from the Trump administration, according to two of the people familiar with the conversations. In order to file a lawsuit, the Chamber will need to identify a handful of companies to file alongside it in order to demonstrate legal standing and demonstrable harm.  

 

The US Chamber of Commerce counts the country’s largest companies among its membership, including Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc., and Meta Platforms Inc. 

 

The policy changes would hit technology companies the hardest because they dominate the H-1B program. Amazon is the heaviest H-1B visa user, hiring 10,044 employees with H-1B visas between 2009 and June 2025, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Microsoft Corp. employed 5,189 H-1B visa holders during the same time period, and Meta hired 5,123, according to the data. 

 

The US Chamber faces a number of unknowns as it crafts a strategy to push back against the Trump administration’s new policies. It’s still unclear exactly how the system will work — the White House hasn’t clarified which agency will be in charge of processing the $100,000 fee. 

 

The major tech companies are unlikely to lead any strategy against the H-1B policy changes because they believe the optics of “Big Tech” muscling in could harm the cause, according to a lobbyist involved in the conversations. Still, tech lobbyists are beginning to push back against the Trump administration’s moves, arguing changes to the H-1B program could harm the development of artificial intelligence in the US. 

 

“For America to continue to develop and build world class technology, it must be able to attract the best and brightest from around the globe to innovate and create jobs in the United States,” said Jason Oxman, CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council, which counts Amazon, Google, Apple Inc., and other top H-1B users among its members.