Polygraph

The administration attempted to impose a $100,000 fee on people applying for H-1B visas.

Posted by Bulwark Takes, Checked

Polygraph verdictTrue
Sources
4 support1 context
Said
1 time·
Confidence
92%
Bulwark TakesAug 29, 2026
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34 claimsThe check →

The administration did attempt to impose a $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applicants: a September 2025 proclamation imposed it, and a June 2026 court ruling blocked it, after which the administration proposed a renewed fee on August 24, 2026, days before the post.

A guest makes this claim. Listeners heard it, so it counts against the post, and on the guest's own record.

This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.

What was said

… week, tell me if I'm missing anything, but I have global freeze on all green card processing abroad, the largest mass visa revocation in history, something like 200,000 people who are in the United States applying for asylum are having their visas revoked, another attempt at slapping a $100,000 fee on people who are applying for H1B visas. How would you characterize the administration's relative focus on people who are here legally, legal immigration, versus unauthorized immigration? I don't think this administration really distinguishes between the two. They are restrictionists. …
Bulwark Takes · · from the transcriptPost →

What we found

Supports. Reuters reports that President Trump imposed an unprecedented $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas, and that a federal judge in Oakland blocked it on September 30, 2026, after a Boston judge had blocked it in June.[1]

Supports. The White House fact sheet states that the $100,000 fee requirement was first imposed by proclamation on September 19, 2025, and renewed by a September 18, 2026 proclamation.[2]

Supports. Politico and CNN report that the administration proposed a new fee of more than $100,000 (about $103,000) on H-1B visas on August 24, 2026, following the earlier fee that a federal judge had blocked in June.[3][4]

Context. The earlier fee was blocked by courts, and the new proposal was a non-final regulation. Some later coverage notes a further fee proposal, but these developments came after the August 29, 2026 posting date and do not change the claim's status on that date.[1][4][5]

Sources

5 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 primary, 2 tier 2, 1 not rated

  1. 1Second judge blocks Trump's $100,000 fee for new H-1B worker visasreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports, context
  2. 2Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Further Enhances Program Integrity and Interagency Coordination in the H-1B Visa Programwhitehouse.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
  3. 3Trump administration proposes more than $100K fee for H-1B visaspolitico.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
  4. 4Trump administration proposes $103000 fee for H-1B visascnn.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports, context
  5. 5Trump Devises New $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee After Defeat in Courtfinance.yahoo.com · not rated · cited for: context

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