President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday, September 19, raising the cost of H-1B specialty-occupation visas. Starting September 21, companies hoping to import workers under the H-1B will have to shell out another $100,000. This new fee could accomplish one of two things – and both are likely goals behind the president’s action: drive companies to employ American citizens instead of foreigners or generate a huge pile of cash for the government.

According to the order, “the entry into the United States of aliens as nonimmigrants to perform services in a specialty occupation […] is restricted, except for those aliens whose petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000 – subject to the exceptions set forth in subsection (c) of this section.”

Subsection (c) does allow for the Secretary of Homeland Security to determine that an alien’s job “is in the national interest and does not pose a threat to the security or the welfare of the United States.” The order is set to expire 12 months after it takes effect unless it’s renewed.

So, what’s the likely effect of this massive increase in fees? Well, undoubtedly some companies will hire Americans rather than import talent. But probably not all will – and that could mean a tidy sum generated for the US government. The H-1B program offers about 65,000 visas each year for companies looking to bring in temporary foreign workers in specialized fields – with another 20,000 for those with advanced degrees.

At present, it’s unclear whether this will apply to renewals or just to new applications. For simplicity’s sake let’s assume only the new ones each year. 85,000 visas at $100,000 apiece could mean as much as $8.5 billion each year in additional revenue. Or, more likely, somewhat less than that plus considerably more Americans hired in place of aliens. Either way, that’s a win for the Trump administration.

Currently, these H-1B visas could cost employers several thousand dollars, on a case-by-case basis, so adding a $100,000 fee represents an incredible hike in cost. President Trump claims that many big companies are on board with this. Perhaps they are – but it also seems quite likely that many will balk, perhaps even resorting to legal action. Furthermore, many pro-immigration progressives would probably jump at the opportunity to slap their favorite label – racist! – on yet another Trump action.

So the question that immediately comes to mind is: Can the president actually do this? And the short answer is yes. The General User Charges Statute (31 U.S.C. 9701) grants the US Department of State the authority to set most visa fees and delegates authority to the president to establish cost-based fees. An argument might be made that $100,000 is far in excess of a reasonable fee to recover the costs of providing the services, but without explicit language prohibiting large fees in the legislation, the only way to overturn the order would be to file suit and have a judge strike it down.

That someone will sue seems inevitable; who will come out on top, however, is far less certain. For now, at least, the order will be the new law of the land, starting Sunday, September 21.