Federal judge blocks H1B visa $100K fee
Federal judge blocks H1B visa $100K fee
联邦法官叫停 10 万美元 H-1B 签证费
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - A federal judge ruled on Monday to block President Donald Trump’s policy on imposing a $100,000 fee for new H1-B visas, a ruling that could save hundreds of education jobs in Alaska. 阿拉斯加州安克雷奇（KTUU）——周一，一位联邦法官裁定阻止唐纳德·特朗普总统对新 H-1B 签证征收 10 万美元费用的政策。这一裁决可能挽救阿拉斯加州数百个教育岗位。
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant, employer-sponsored visa for foreign professionals in “specialty occupations” requiring at least a bachelor’s degree, commonly in STEM, healthcare, or education fields. It is valid for up to six years, but must be renewed in three-year increments. H-1B 签证是一种非移民类、由雇主担保的签证，适用于在“专业领域”工作的外国专业人士。这些职位通常要求至少拥有学士学位，常见于 STEM（科学、技术、工程和数学）、医疗保健或教育领域。该签证有效期最长为六年，但必须每三年续签一次。
Judge Leo Sorokin ruled that the fee violated the federal Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution. He states in his ruling that the Trump administration did not explain the decision to implement the fee and found that it was a tax. 利奥·索罗金（Leo Sorokin）法官裁定，该费用违反了联邦《行政程序法》和宪法。他在裁决书中指出，特朗普政府并未解释实施该费用的决策依据，并认定这实际上是一种税收。
Alaska’s delegation and the Alaska Legislature were urging the federal government to waive the new H-1B Visa fees for teachers in the state. 阿拉斯加州的代表团和阿拉斯加州议会此前一直敦促联邦政府为该州的教师免除新的 H-1B 签证费用。
Lisa Parady, director of the Alaska Council of School Administrators, which supports districts with hiring and recruitment efforts, says there are 573 international teachers working in Alaska, and 341 of them use H-1B visas. 阿拉斯加学校管理人员委员会（Alaska Council of School Administrators）主任丽莎·帕拉迪（Lisa Parady）表示，该委员会负责支持各学区的招聘工作。目前在阿拉斯加工作的国际教师共有 573 名，其中 341 名持有 H-1B 签证。
“In some rural districts, visa teachers make up 50% to nearly 80% of the teaching staff. School districts already invest $6,000 to $12,000 per teacher to recruit and sponsor educators through the H-1B visa process. Adding a $100,000 federal visa fee has made it financially impossible for many districts to continue hiring the teachers their students depend on. Without an exemption for K-12 public education, rural schools across Alaska would face severe staffing shortages and significant disruptions to student learning,” Parady said in a press release. “在一些农村学区，持签证教师占教职员工总数的 50% 到近 80%。学区在通过 H-1B 签证流程招聘和担保教师时，每人已经投入了 6,000 到 12,000 美元。增加 10 万美元的联邦签证费，使得许多学区在经济上无法继续聘用学生所依赖的教师。如果没有针对 K-12 公共教育的豁免，阿拉斯加各地的农村学校将面临严重的人员短缺，并对学生的学习造成重大干扰，”帕拉迪在新闻稿中说道。
Sens. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, have both independently written letters to the former U.S. Department of Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem asking for exemptions. 阿拉斯加州共和党参议员丹·沙利文（Dan Sullivan）和丽莎·穆尔科斯基（Lisa Murkowski）分别致信前美国国土安全部部长克里斯蒂·诺姆（Kristi Noem），请求给予豁免。
Murkowski introduced a bill in March — S.4087 — that would exempt public school employees from the non-processing-related fees for H-1B visas. Sullivan is a co-sponsor of the bill. 穆尔科斯基在三月份提出了一项法案（S.4087），旨在免除公立学校员工的 H-1B 签证非处理相关费用。沙利文是该法案的共同提案人。
Murkowski released a public statement on Monday saying that the judge’s ruling is a welcome relief for Alaska’s schools. 穆尔科斯基周一发表公开声明称，法官的裁决对阿拉斯加的学校来说是一个令人欣慰的消息。
“Today’s decision from a U.S. District Judge to vacate the policy implementing the Presidential Proclamation mandating a $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applicants—a 5,000% increase in some cases—came at a critical time for Alaska’s schools that are in the midst of hiring before next fall,“ Murkowski said. “Many school districts in rural and remote parts of the state rely on the H-1B visa program to bring quality teachers to their communities. In Alaska, this isn’t a partisan issue: the state legislature unanimously passed a resolution last month urging the federal government to waive the fee for educators.” “美国地方法官今天做出的撤销该政策的决定，废除了总统公告中强制要求 H-1B 签证申请人缴纳 10 万美元费用的规定——在某些情况下，这相当于增加了 5,000% 的费用。这对正处于秋季开学前招聘关键期的阿拉斯加学校来说至关重要，”穆尔科斯基说。“该州许多农村和偏远地区的学区都依赖 H-1B 签证项目为社区引进优质教师。在阿拉斯加，这不是一个党派问题：州议会上个月一致通过了一项决议，敦促联邦政府为教育工作者免除这笔费用。”
She also states that she plans to work on eliminating the fee permanently so that “Alaska’s students receive the best education possible, regardless of the outcome of future legal challenges.” 她还表示，她计划致力于永久取消这项费用，以便“无论未来法律挑战的结果如何，阿拉斯加的学生都能获得尽可能最好的教育。”
Sullivan’s office said the senator is working to secure an exemption to the $100,000 H-1B visa fee for teachers coming to Alaska. 沙利文的办公室表示，这位参议员正在努力为来阿拉斯加任教的教师争取 10 万美元 H-1B 签证费的豁免。
“Senator Sullivan has been working relentlessly to secure an exemption of the $100,000 H1-B visa fee for teachers who come to our state to fill necessary jobs. Senator Sullivan and his team have been in direct discussions with senior level DHS officials to secure this exemption.” “沙利文参议员一直在不懈努力，为那些来到我们州填补必要岗位的教师争取 10 万美元 H-1B 签证费的豁免。沙利文参议员及其团队一直在与国土安全部的高级官员进行直接沟通，以确保获得这一豁免。”
The Alaska Legislature passed a joint resolution in May asking for the exemptions, saying that the fees would have resulted in the state making “the difficult choice of paying millions of dollars for visa recipients or going without these needed teachers.” 阿拉斯加州议会在五月份通过了一项联合决议，要求给予豁免。决议指出，这些费用将导致该州面临“要么为签证持有者支付数百万美元，要么失去这些急需教师的艰难选择”。