A federal judge has ruled against a policy introduced by the Trump administration that required companies to pay $100,000 for H-1B visa petitions. The ruling declared the policy to be an unlawful tax on companies, thus voiding it completely.

The decision came from Judge Leo T. Sorokin of the Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Judge Sorokin highlighted that the imposed policy seemed to infringe upon Congress’s constitutional power to levy taxes. The Trump administration had maintained that the fee was not a tax but rather a regulatory payment within executive authority. However, Judge Sorokin noted the lack of evidence or clear definition for what constitutes a ‘regulatory payment.’ He stated, “This is mere ipse dixit,” indicating that the defendants provided no solid reasoning to support their argument.

The policy, implemented in September, was argued to have been rushed without any formal process or public commentary. This lack of procedure was pointed out by many industries reliant on skilled foreign labor to address workforce shortages, many of whom opposed the policy.

The Trump administration had defended the hefty fee by suggesting that the H-1B visa program had been misused to replace American workers with cheaper, less skilled foreign labor. Former President Trump claimed the fee would push companies to hire more U.S. citizens for high-paying positions.