Washington state is joining 20 other states in opposing the Trump administration’s move to increase the cost of H-1B visa petitions for high-skilled foreign workers to $100,000. 

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts on Dec. 12, according to a release. Trump announced the increased fee, which previously cost from just under $1,000 to a few thousand dollars a year, in mid-September. 

Washington state attorney general Nick Brown and the other attorneys general argue that the hiked fee violates federal law, et arbitrarily and not based on the agency’s costs. Additionally, Trump issued the fee without going through the notice-and-comment process required and without considering the full range of impacts — especially on the provision of critical services by government and nonprofit entities. 

“The H-1B visa program helps bring talented people with critical skillsets to Washington, keeping our state on the cutting edge in highly specialized areas of education and research,” Brown said in a statement. “The federal government can’t arbitrarily turn these visas into an extortion racket to punish employers and institutions the President does not like.” 

More than 11,700 people working in the state hold H-1B visas, the sixth-highest tally of any state. In Benton and Franklin counties, more than 150 workers are on H-1B visas, with more than nine out of 10 being employed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The remainder work in agriculture, health care and higher education. 

The visas, which are paid for by employers, allow companies to petition for high-skilled foreign workers to temporarily fill positions in specialty occupations, including physicians, researchers, nurses, and other vital workers, due to a shortage in qualified domestic workers. 

Trump’s proclamation announcing the feel increase calls for American companies to rely on American workers for these roles, saying there is “abuse” of the H-1B program. However, the decision has been criticized by those in the immigration, tech, health care and other STEM-related fields, including Trump ally Elon Musk, for hamstringing American employers.