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Fact check: How does Trump's immigration policy compare to the Obama administration's approach to legal immigrants?
Executive Summary
The Trump administration introduced sweeping, high-cost changes to legal immigration rules in 2025, most notably a $100,000 fee on H‑1B petitions and a proposed $1 million “gold card” pathway, marking a sharp policy divergence from prior Obama-era reforms that focused on expanding access and refining priorities for skilled migrants rather than imposing large fees [1] [2] [3]. These actions are paired with increased internal enforcement measures and changes to benefits access for groups like DACA recipients, shaping a comprehensive shift toward cost‑based and enforcement‑oriented immigration management [4] [5].
1. Big Money, Big Shift: How a $100,000 H‑1B Fee Rewrites Incentives
The centerpiece of the 2025 changes is a $100,000 supplemental fee on H‑1B visa petitions, which the administration defends as a tool to prioritize wealthy or high‑paying employers and deter perceived wage suppression by foreign workers, fundamentally altering the H‑1B program’s economics and employer incentives [1] [2]. Critics say the fee will dramatically reduce access for startups, universities, and small employers who historically relied on H‑1Bs to fill skill gaps, while proponents argue the fee realigns selection toward higher‑wage roles; legal challenges contend the fee may be unlawful and vulnerable in court [6] [1].
2. Replacing Lotteries: From Chance to Cash and Wage Weighting
Beyond fees, the administration proposed replacing the H‑1B lottery with a weighted selection system that privileges higher wages, and implementing mechanisms to favor employers able to pay more, shifting selection away from pure chance to a market‑tilted model [7] [2]. This recalibration intends to reward higher compensation, but it also risks biasing against younger or early‑career talent and sectors where high starting salaries are rare; the change dovetails with the fee strategy to channel legal migration toward wealthier applicants and employers rather than broadening skill‑based access [7] [6].
3. A New Financial Path to Permanence: The $1M Gold Card and Its Implications
The proposed $1 million “gold card” creates an explicit high‑price route to permanent residency, signaling a policy shift that equates legal permanence with purchasing power rather than conventional criteria like family ties, asylum claims, or employer sponsorship [2]. Supporters frame the gold card as a pragmatic revenue source and a way to attract wealthy investors, while opponents note it institutionalizes a two‑tier migration system that privileges economic elites and diverts attention from workforce needs and humanitarian obligations [2] [8].
4. Enforcement Inside the Country: Reviewing Millions of Visa Holders
Administration directives to review tens of millions of individuals with valid U.S. visas for violations represent a more aggressive internal enforcement posture than many prior policies, and they contrast with Obama-era critiques that internal enforcement was sometimes too lax [4]. The review is described as a law‑enforcement measure to identify deportable violations, but it also raises concerns about administrative capacity, due process for long‑term lawful residents, and practical impacts on employers and communities reliant on immigrant workers, spotlighting enforcement as a core pillar of the new approach [4] [6].
5. Benefits and Access: Reversals for DACA and Healthcare Coverage
Policy changes extend beyond visas to benefits, as rules blocking DACA recipients from Affordable Care Act marketplaces reverse prior expansions and reduce access to healthcare for people brought to the U.S. as children, representing a clear rollback of benefit inclusion compared to recent administrations [5]. This move underscores a pattern of narrowing legal immigrants’ and certain long‑term residents’ public‑benefit access, which administration officials justify on legal or fiscal grounds while advocates highlight immediate health and social consequences for affected populations [5].
6. Legal Battles and Predictable Court Review: How Durable Are These Changes?
Several analyses predict robust legal challenges to the fee increases and selection changes, arguing portions of the new rules may be "almost certainly illegal" and likely to face injunctions or reversals in federal court, indicating that the practical effect may evolve over months of litigation [1] [8]. Courts will weigh statutory authority, administrative procedure, and constitutional questions; past litigation against rapid executive shifts in immigration policy suggests outcomes are uncertain and dependent on how rules were promulgated and justified administratively [1].
7. The Big Picture: Comparing Two Administrations’ Priorities
Where the Obama-era approach emphasized reforming visa priorities to attract highly skilled workers without imposing extreme fees and sought a balance of enforcement and integration, the 2025 Trump policies prioritize cost‑based selection, revenue generation, and internal enforcement, reshaping legal immigration into a system that privileges wealth and wage signals [8] [2]. Both camps present stated goals—competitiveness and rule of law versus protection of domestic workers and fiscal considerations—but the 2025 package marks a decisive pivot toward monetized access and stricter internal scrutiny, setting the stage for prolonged policy and legal debate [6] [4].