Immigration Update – October 06, 2025
Headlines:
Group Sues Trump Administration Over $100K H-1B Application Fee; U.S. Chamber of Commerce Objects to Fee – In reaction to the fee, several entities have pushed back, including a lawsuit filed by a group representing many organizations that rely in part on H-1B workers and a letter from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to Treasury Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Supreme Court Says Trump Administration Can Terminate TPS for Venezuelans – The Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration can move forward with plans to terminate Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the United States. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.
USCIS Targets Minneapolis-St. Paul Area in Immigration Fraud Operation, Warns of Expansion to Other Cities – Operation Twin Shield was “the first time USCIS dedicated resources on this scale in a single geographical area.” USCIS Director Joseph Edlow warned that the operation was the “first of many” and said that “[a]ny city should be prepared to be the next site for an operation of this magnitude.”
Refugee Admissions to be Cut to Record Low in 2026; White Afrikaners to be Prioritized – The Trump administration plans to cut refugee admissions to a record low in 2026 and prioritize relief for certain groups like white Afrikaners from South Africa. The cap of 125,000 set under the Biden administration in 2024 is expected to be lowered to 7,500.
Details:
Group Sues Trump Administration Over $100K H-1B Application Fee; U.S. Chamber of Commerce Objects to Fee
In reaction to the Trump administration’s $100,000 fee for new H-1B applications, several entities have pushed back, including a lawsuit filed by a group representing many organizations that rely in part on
H-1B workers and a letter from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to Treasury Secretary Howard Lutnick.
The group that has sued the Trump administration over the new fee argues that the “arbitrary and capricious” fee is unlawful, the required regulatory process was not followed, and the administration failed to consider the harm to entities across the United States that rely on H-1B workers, including not only high-tech companies but also schools, churches, hospitals, nonprofits, and businesses.
The group that filed the lawsuit includes the American Association of University Professors, U.A.W. International, Global Nurse Force, Global Village Academy Collaborative (a charter school association), and the Society of the Divine Word’s Chicago Province. Representatives for the plaintiffs include Democracy Forward, the Justice Action Center, and the South Asian American Justice Collaborative.
Citing studies showing that H-1B workers contribute to the U.S. economy, increase domestic employment, and raise wages, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s letter to Secretary Lutnick noted that a lack of availability of skilled H-1B workers also can cause companies to “outsource entire functions.” The Chamber said it is “particularly concerned about the administration’s new policy of imposing a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas. This additional fee is easily 10 to 20 times (more for smaller companies) above the current fees. This would clearly limit the ability of many companies, especially smaller firms, to hire the skilled individuals they need to grow their businesses and the American economy.” The Chamber recommended that the Trump administration rescind its proclamation imposing the new fee and instead “work with Congress to look at reforms to the H-1B program that could accompany an increase in the number [of] visas annually available to meet the needs of our growing economy.”
Alternatively, if the Trump administration decides to keep the new fee, the Chamber recommended “clarifications” to address questions detailed in an attachment to its letter, including whether regulations will be published, how a “new” petition is defined, and what evidence will be required to determine that a particular H-1B beneficiary is not subject to the new fee.
Supreme Court Says Trump Administration Can Terminate TPS for Venezuelans
The Supreme Court has ruled that the Trump administration can move forward with plans to terminate Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the United States. The Supreme Court stayed a September 5, 2025, U.S. district court order pending the disposition of the government’s appeal in the Ninth Circuit and of a petition for a writ of certiorari. The unsigned opinion stated, “Although the posture of the case has changed, the parties’ legal arguments and relative harms generally have not. The same result that we reached in May is appropriate here.”
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, calling the decision “yet another grave misuse of our emergency docket.” She said, “This Court should have stayed its hand. Having opted instead to join the fray, the Court plainly misjudges the irreparable harm and balance-of-the-equities factors by privileging the bald assertion of unconstrained executive power over countless families’ pleas for the stability our Government has promised them.”
USCIS Targets Minneapolis-St. Paul Area in Immigration Fraud Operation, Warns of Expansion to Other Cities
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), in coordination with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced on September 30, 2025, that it had conducted “Operation Twin Shield,” a “targeted surge of fraud detection and deterrence activities across Minneapolis-St. Paul and surrounding areas” from September 19 to 28, 2025. According to USCIS, Operation Twin Shield was “the first time USCIS dedicated resources on this scale in a single geographical area.” USCIS Director Joseph Edlow warned that the operation was the “first of many” and said that “[a]ny city should be prepared to be the next site for an operation of this magnitude.”
The operation focused on site visits and targeted verifications for applicants and petitioners with pending immigration benefits who matched “specified risk criteria,” USCIS said without elaborating. Employment authorizations and certain parole-related requests, among others, were investigated. USCIS officers focused on more than 1,000 cases that had “fraud or ineligibility indicators” and conducted more than 900 site visits and in-person interviews. USCIS said they found evidence of fraud, noncompliance, or public safety or national security concerns in 275 cases. USCIS issued Notices to Appear (NTAs) or referred people to ICE in 42 cases, and four people were “apprehended.”
USCIS said it expects that data on NTAs, referrals to ICE, and adverse adjudicative actions in the Minneapolis-St. Paul cases to increase as more administrative investigations are completed.
Refugee Admissions to be Cut to Record Low in 2026; White Afrikaners to be Prioritized
According to reports, the Trump administration plans to cut refugee admissions to a record low in fiscal year 2026 and prioritize relief for certain groups like white Afrikaners from South Africa whom it deems face “unjust discrimination.” The cap of 125,000 set under the Biden administration in 2024 is expected to be lowered to 7,500.
This plan follows other Trump administration actions to prevent many refugees from coming to or resettling in the United States, or obtaining asylum. Mark Hetfield, who is president of HIAS, a Jewish resettlement agency, said that such a low refugee ceiling “would break America’s promise to people who played by the rules. Trump isn’t just putting the Afrikaners to the front of the line. He is kicking years-long-waiting refugees out of the line.” HIAS has had to lay off more than half of its staff since the Trump administration cut funding for the refugee program.
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