Overview

• Global Nurse Force et al filed suit on Oct. 3 in the Northern District of California on behalf of unions, health‑care providers, schools, religious groups and individual plaintiffs to stop the new H‑1B charge.
• The complaint says the proclamation unlawfully rewrites a program created by Congress, violates the Administrative Procedure Act, and turns H‑1B into a discretionary “pay‑to‑play” system via a vague national‑interest exemption.
• Plaintiffs seek emergency relief to halt enforcement and to restore processing under the prior statutory fee framework, while the White House continues to defend the policy as an anti‑abuse measure.
• Following early confusion, officials clarified the fee is a one‑time charge applying only to new applicants, not current H‑1B holders or renewals, yet employers report paused sponsorships and disrupted hiring.
• Business groups warned of economic damage across tech, health care and academia, with nurse placements threatened, even as some leaders such as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang voiced support for the high bar.