President Trump’s announcement that a new $100,000 fee would apply to H‑1B visas hit while many were asleep. The policy was to take effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Sunday. Some travellers read it as sweeping, even sweeping to existing visa holders.
Apple sent urgent messages to employees overseas telling them that they had to get back before the policy becomes law.
The Wall Street Journal focused on what happened to one flight of workers trying to get to the US. Air India Flight 179 left Mumbai at 1:25 p.m. en route to San Francisco, with a refuel stop scheduled in Kolkata. Seats vanished fast. Things were made worse by right wing hackers trying to jam the booking systems by clogging itineraries.
One woman, sitting later in seat 22D, got a wake‑up call at 6:30 a.m. local time telling her she needed to get to the US immediately. She dropped everything and began a three‑hour drive to the airport with just her passport and hastily printed documents.
Some had to strand children or spouses at home. Others boarded at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International, where whispers of “H‑1Bs, raise your hands” drew 20 responses from anxious travellers.
During the refuelling stop in Kolkata, more than 125 H‑1B workers aboard formed a WhatsApp channel to trade intel. One passenger recalled asking the captain to speed up arrival. The pilot said gate and air traffic control were beyond his control but he might save “10 to 15 minutes.”
Rumours surfaced mid‑air that the $100,000 fee would not apply retroactively. The White House later confirmed that existing visa holders would not be hit.
As the aircraft approached San Francisco, economy passengers with H‑1B visas exchanged seats with business‑class travellers to shorten their immigration time. Before landing, the captain asked those not in a rush to remain seated so the others could dash for customs.
The flight touched down at 7:59 p.m. local time. Once phones revived, many found relief: “All cleared,” one passenger posted. “No questions asked.”
The mess over the weekend is due to problems in the court of King Trump, where different interests are competing against Big Tech, the Journal said.
Public-affairs consultant Nu Wexler, who has worked inside the tech sector, summed up the mess nicely: “You have a political base that really wants to stick it to the big tech companies. Meanwhile, you have their CEOs writing checks and coming in and out of the Oval Office who are trying to prevent that.”
The contradiction has stalked Trump since before he even got the keys to the White House. In December, Laura Loomer blasted the appointment of a top AI adviser who once backed lifting country caps on green cards as “deeply disturbing.”
Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick stood beside Trump last Friday to unveil the new $100,000 H‑1B visa fee. Initially pitched as an annual charge, the White House later backtracked and said it would be a one-off for new applicants only.
It didn’t help that Lutnick’s plan floated suspending every other green card category, turning a $1 million gold card into the only game in town for those seeking permanent US residency. At one point, someone pointed out that this would block green cards even for the spouses of US citizens. “Good point,” Lutnick reportedly muttered before scribbling it down.
An official close to him insisted Lutnick’s been talking with everyone from tech execs to immigration hardliners to get a grip on the issues. Former Trump sidekick and anti-immigration megaphone Steve Bannon wasn’t impressed. On his podcast, he said Lutnick had “gave not just erroneous information, patently false information.”
White House spokesman Kush Desai leapt to his defence, saying, “His immense private-sector success makes him an invaluable asset to communicate the president’s priorities and policies to industry and other stakeholder groups.”
None of which helped the bureaucratic chaos. Lawyers and lobbyists representing major tech firms scrambled across half a dozen government departments trying to work out what the hell was going on. Even the Office of Science and Technology Policy hadn’t been looped in.
One trade group boss said they fielded more calls over that weekend than during Trump’s tariff circus earlier this year.
While the administration tried to clean up the mess by blaming “lawyers and others with agendas,” workers and companies have been left jittery.
Representative Sam Liccardo, Democrat for California, summed up the whole saga: “I’ve seen better organised riots.”
“No amount of gold trinkets can change the volume of grumbling I’m hearing from Silicon Valley,” he said, nodding to that shiny Apple souvenir gifted to Trump by Tim Cook.