In a groundbreaking legal challenge to US President Donald Trump’s sweeping hike in H-1B visa fees, an Indian researcher, identified in court as “Phoenix Doe," is being cited as a real-world example of the policy’s human cost.

Trump’s new H-1B visa policy has come under legal challenge in a federal court in San Francisco. A coalition of unions, employers, and religious organisations has filed a lawsuit seeking to block his order that mandates a one-time fee of $100,000 on H-1B visa applications.

Challenging the decision, the lawsuit argued that the fee increase is unlawful and represents an unprecedented alteration to the H-1B program.

The petitioners maintain that the president “has no authority" to impose fees or taxes to raise revenue unilaterally, nor can he dictate how those funds

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