Executive Orders on H-1B Renewing the $100,000 Fee and Reviewing Employer Layoffs
On September 18, 2026, the Trump administration issued two H-1B related executive orders/proclamations:
The first was a renewal of the previous $100,000 fee for H-1B petitions requiring consular notification and subsequent admission to the United States: “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers”. The previous executive order in this vein was deemed unlawful by a federal district court decision. (This is summarized here: “Federal court decisions invalidate both the $100,000 H1B fee and the nationality-based USCIS processing hold”). We expect the renewal to be subject to a similar challenge.
The other was a new executive action against certain H-1B employers: “Enhancing Program Integrity and Integrity and Interagency Coordination in the Administration of the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Program”.
This second and new executive order asserts that certain H-1B employers negatively affect the working conditions and pay of U.S. workers, and “present a national security threat by discouraging Americans from pursuing careers in science and technology, risking vital United States leadership in these fields.” This executive order directs the Departments of State, Labor and Homeland Security to review any LCA, H-1B petition, H-1B visa or H-1B entry to see whether the petitioning employer directly or indirectly had any layoffs in the last year, or plans any layoffs of similarly situated U.S. workers.
It is unclear how this executive order will be implemented. It may be that federal and state WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) notices will be reviewed given that they are an advance warning of a mass layoff required by law in certain scenarios. However, it is unclear how they would determine which layoffs relate to US workers who are “similarly situated” to H-1B workers.