The Trump administration proposes $103,000 fee for H-1B visas that DHS itself estimates would paralyze 76% of small businesses

Mere months after a federal judge knocked down a six-figure price tag on H-1B visas, the Trump administration is taking another stab at it, proposing a $103,265 surcharge for companies looking to hire foreign workers. 

On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security proposed charging employers the extra amount on top of existing filing costs. In its proposal, the department even estimated that the six-figure upcharge would force 11,051 small businesses (76% of the small entities it analyzed) to experience a “significant economic impact” as a result of the fee. The proposal will need to go through a 30-day public comment period, but if enacted, the fee would dramatically change the economics of a visa program that is widely used by tech companies, consulting firms, and startups. It also runs the risk of potentially giving the largest companies another advantage over smaller competitors.

While DHS argues the fee is meant to encourage companies to hire more Americans over foreign workers, research on H-1B visa restrictions indicates the opposite, according to Britta Glennon, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School whose research focuses on immigration and the economy.

“When multinational companies ca...