Milwaukee Public Schools hired more than 200 teachers from other countries to help fill open jobs this year. The school district uses the temporary H-1B visa program to hire international teachers for three years at a time. This type of visa is reserved for people working in “specialty occupations” like teaching, computer sciences and engineering. Many employers like hospitals and tech companies, rely on these visas.  

Last month, President Trump announced sweeping changes to the H-1B visa program. His proclamation creates a 100,000-dollar fee for new applications. That’s a steep hike from the current fee of about 3,000 dollars.  

As part of our Check-In series exploring immigration updates, WUWM education reporter Katherine Kokal spoke with Milwaukee immigration lawyer Kelly Fortier about the work visa changes.