Press Releases

Washington, D.C. – 2/12/2025… Today, Reps. Mike Lawler (NY-17) and Yvette Clarke (NY-09) led 98 of their colleagues in a bipartisan, bicameral letter to Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Kristi Noem, urging DHS to grant a health care sector exemption from the new $100,000 fee on employers petitioning for new H-1B visas.

“Worsening workforce shortages across all health care professions are significantly diminishing access to care in rural and urban communities across the nation. According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, nearly 87 million Americans live in areas federally designated as lacking enough medical professionals to address the community’s health care needs,” wrote the lawmakers. 

“Imposing a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa petitions will exacerbate hospitals’ existing staffing challenges and could push chronically underfunded hospitals to their financial brink. If these hospitals cannot petition for new H-1B visas to address their staffing needs without also having to pay this fee, it will further damage their financial viability. Critically needed open positions will simply go unfilled, leaving rural and high-poverty urban areas without adequate access to Care. We strongly urge you to exempt the health care sector from this burdensome fee,” concluded the lawmakers. 

“New York hospitals have long used the H-1B visa program to ensure they can deliver world-class health care, train the next generation of physicians, and conduct cutting-edge research. The filing fee for H-1B visa petitions poses a grave threat to this critical mission. It will further strain hospitals, exacerbate ongoing workforce shortages, and diminish access to care. I thank Representatives Clarke and Lawler for their leadership and advocacy on this important issue,” said Ken Raske, President of the Greater New York Hospital Association.

“We know the positive impact that H-1 visa holders have in health care – they help fill in the gap in our country’s health care delivery system, providing care where it is needed most and in the face of acute workforce shortages. The AAMC knows that restricting access to H1-B visas will worsen the nation’s existing physician shortage, put strains on the health care workforce and ultimately jeopardize patient access to care, and we simply can’t let any of those things happen,” said Danielle Turnipseed, Chief Public Policy Officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges.

“The H-1B visa program is a critical lifeline to healthcare organizations statewide, helping to ease existing workforce shortages in underserved communities,” said Bea Grause, RN, JD, President of the Healthcare Association of New York State. “Additional barriers, such as the new $100,000 fee for each visa applicant, jeopardize access to care and increase costs in areas already struggling to meet demand. HANYS applauds Representatives Clarke and Lawler for leading on this important issue and calling on DHS to exempt the healthcare industry from additional undue burden.”

“As a physician and as president of the California Medical Association, I see firsthand how deeply our health care system depends on international medical professionals, especially in rural communities. A $100,000 fee on H-1B visas is not just excessive, it is a direct threat to patient access to care. Exempting the health care sector is squarely in the national interest and essential to protecting the stability of our workforce and the health of millions of patients,” said René Bravo, MD, President of the California Medical Association.

The letter was signed by 100 Members of Congress: Yvette D. Clarke, Michael Lawler, Kirsten Gillibrand, Becca Balint, Nanette Barragán, Wesley Bell, Ami Bera, Donald Beyer, Brendan Boyle, Shontel Brown, André Carson, Joaquin Castro, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Judy Chu, Gilbert Cisneros, Emanuel Cleaver, Steve Cohen, Herbert Conaway, Jasmine Crockett, Danny Davis, Donald Davis, Madeleine Dean, Suzan DelBene, Christopher Deluzio, Maxine Dexter, Debbie Dingell, Lloyd Doggett, Veronica Escobar, Adriano Espaillat, Shomari Figures, Brian Fitzpatrick, Bill Foster, Valerie Foushee, Laura Friedman, Sylvia Garcia, Laura Gillen, Daniel Goldman, Vicente Gonzalez, Maggie Goodlander, Josh Gottheimer, Chrissy Houlahan, Henry Johnson, Julie Johnson, Thomas Kean, Robin Kelly, Timothy Kennedy, Raja Krishnamoorthi, George Latimer, Teresa Leger Fernandez, Ted Lieu, Zoe Lofgren, Stephen Lynch, Seth Magaziner, John Mannion, Doris Matsui, Lucy McBath, Jennifer McClellan, Betty McCollum, James McGovern, LaMonica McIver, Gregory Meeks, Robert Menendez, Grace Meng, Kweisi Mfume, Joseph Morelle, Kelly Morrison, Seth Moulton, James Moylan, Frank Mrvan, Jerrold Nadler, Eleanor Norton, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jimmy Panetta, Chris Pappas, Nellie Pou, Josh Riley, Patrick Ryan, Linda Sánchez, Mary Gay Scanlon, Janice Schakowsky, Bradley Schneider, Hillary Scholten, Terri Sewell, Melanie Stansbury, Suhas Subramanyam, Thomas Suozzi, Eric Swalwell, Emilia Sykes, Shri Thanedar, Bennie Thompson, Mike Thompson, Dina Titus, Paul Tonko, Ritchie Torres, Lori Trahan, Jefferson Van Drew, Marc Veasey, Nydia Velázquez, James Walkinshaw, Nikema Williams.

The members’ letter has the support of the following organizations: American Hospital Association (AHA), Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA), Hospital Association of New York State (HANYS), American Psychiatric Association (APA), NYC Health + Hospitals, America’s Essential Hospitals (AEH), California Medical Association (CMA), Advocates for Community Health (ACH), Association of Clinicians for the Underserved (ACU), American Academy of Neurology, American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (ACOG), Miles for Migraine, American Gastroenterological Association, Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment (AAPPR), Hope for HIE, American College of Radiology (ACR), American Geriatrics Society, MLD Foundation, Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM), Association of Department of Family Medicine, American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM), The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, American College of Surgeons (ACS), National Society for Histotechnology, American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), American Society for Cytopathology, American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS), American Society of Hematology (ASH), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), NAPCRG, American Society for Clinical Pathology’s Board of Certification, Infectious Diseases Society of America, HIV Medicine Association, Commission on Laboratory Accreditation (COLA), Philippine Association of Medical Technologist-USA, Inc. (PAMET-USA, Inc.), Association of Academic Leaders of Neurology, American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA)

Full text of the letter can be found HERE.

Congressman Lawler is one of the most bipartisan members of Congress and represents New York's 17th Congressional District, which is just north of New York City and contains all or parts of Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester Counties. He was rated the most effective freshman lawmaker in the 118th Congress, 8th overall, surpassing dozens of committee chairs.

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