# H-1B Visa Skilled-worker visa program (capped at 85,000/year) heavily used by the tech industry and dominated by Indian nationals — and the flash point of the December 2024 MAGA civil war over [[Sriram Krishnan]]'s White House appointment. The fight pitted the tech right ([[Elon Musk]], [[Vivek Ramaswamy]], [[David Sacks]]) against the nativist wing ([[Steve Bannon]], [[Laura Loomer]]) and exposed the coalition's deepest unresolved tension: is MAGA immigration policy about *all* immigration or only the unskilled kind? Distinct issue often conflated with it: per-country *green card* caps, which create decade-plus backlogs for Indian applicants (what Krishnan actually proposed removing). ## The $100,000 fee (2025–2026) On 19 September 2025 Trump signed a proclamation requiring a $100,000 payment with new H-1B petitions for workers outside the United States, effective 21 September 2025 for twelve months. A federal district court in Massachusetts vacated the policies implementing the fee in June 2026, finding that they exceeded the president's authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act. On 24 July 2026 the First Circuit declined to pause that ruling (Manifest Law; Mintz). On 18 September 2026 Trump signed a new proclamation extending the fee for another year, through 21 September 2027, together with an executive order directing agencies to weigh employer layoffs and labor-market conditions when reviewing H-1B filings (Mintz; Columbia University ISSO). As of 1 October 2026 the fee remained blocked by court order while the government's appeal continued (Columbia University ISSO). ## Stub — fill out - Program mechanics: lottery, employer sponsorship, body-shop abuse critiques - Dec 2024 blow-by-blow and aftermath; Trump's eventual position - Other policy changes under [[Trump II]]: wage floors, lottery changes - Link to [[Immigration Restrictionism]] and [[US Immigration Timeline]]