JD Vance says ‘try hiring Americans’ as states challenge Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee

US Vice President JD Vance has weighed in on the growing legal challenge to the Donald Trump administration’s proposed $100,000 H-1B visa fee, saying states opposing the move could instead focus on hiring American workers. His comments came as 20 US states moved to challenge the new fee, calling it illegal and harmful to public institutions.

Vance reacted to a post on X by Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, who announced legal action against the fee. In response, the vice president wrote, “You might try hiring Americans,” offering what he described as a solution to the concerns raised by states and employers.



The lawsuit has been backed by California, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and Nevada.

Rayfield said the proposed fee would create a major barrier for employers, especially public universities and government bodies that rely on the H-1B programme to fill key roles. He said Oregon State University currently sponsors more than 150 H-1B faculty members, researchers and staff, and plans to hire more under the programme.

“The $100,000 visa fee is devastating for all states, including Oregon, where the flagship universities consistently depend on H-1B visa holders to fill faculty, researcher, and staff roles. For example, Oregon State University currently sponsors more than 150 H-1B faculty, researchers, and staff, and intends to hire additional faculty, researchers, and staff through the H-1B program. Eliminating access to H-1B faculty, researchers, and staff would inflict significant institutional harm, depriving students of critical educational opportunities,” Rayfield said.

He added that the University of Oregon sponsors more than 50 H-1B workers. Rayfield said current H-1B petitions involve regulatory and statutory fees ranging from $960 to $7,595, and argued that the proposed fee goes far beyond processing costs.

“The Trump Administration’s $100,000 fee far exceeds the actual cost of processing H-1B petitions. By imposing this fee, the Administration is exceeding the fee-setting authority granted by Congress, which requires that fees be set based on the agency’s costs, rather than arbitrarily,” Rayfield said.