President-elect Donald Trump reportedly said Saturday he supports the H-1B visa program, siding with Elon Musk in a feud that has divided Trump world as some of his allies on the far-right have attacked the program in an extension of their anti-immigration stance.
Trump told the New York Post that he had “always been in favor of visas,” which allow U. S. employers to rent foreign staff on a short-term basis for jobs that require “highly specialized knowledge” and are used in the generation industry.
Trump reportedly had “a lot of H-1B visas” on his properties, calling it a “great program. “
Trump spoke about the factor amid a widening rift between his allies that sparked when Trump announced Sunday that he had hired venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan as a senior policy adviser for synthetic intelligence. Krishnan advocated for the removal of limits on green cards and professional immigration. programs.
The clash morphed into a broader debate about the culture, race and immigration of the American workforce and escalated on Friday and Saturday, with Musk doubling down on his defense of the program, writing about despicable fools who will have to be removed from the Republican Party, at its roots. and branch. ” rod” in reaction to a post by right-wing commentator Scott Adams that “MAGA is taking cues from Democrats about how to lose elections and still feel smart about yourself. ”
Musk later clarified that he was referring to “those in the Republican Party who are hateful racists and unrepentant. “
Trump’s best friend Steve Bannon also dedicated two of his “War Room” podcasts released Saturday to the issue, criticizing the H-1B program and Silicon Valley and calling the visa program an “economic and monetary scam. ” with “a dark foundation of hatred towards American citizens and our beloved Republic. ”
Bannon said he had “total respect” for Musk, but challenged him to back up his claims that his corporations rely on H1B visas by releasing knowledge about “every engineer hired on H1B and proving that Americans can fill those roles. “
“The explanation why I am in the United States with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and many other corporations that made America strong is because of H1B,” the South African-born Musk wrote on X on Saturday. a big step back and F—K YOURSELF to the front. I will wage war on such a factor that you understand.
Trump hasn’t always been as supportive of H-1B visas as he claimed to The New York Post. During his 2016 campaign, he called the program “very bad” and “unfair” to U.S. workers and tightened restrictions on H-1B applications as president. The Biden administration earlier this month issued a new rule to make the program more accessible to employers by simplifying the application process and providing more leeway to employers in determining eligibility.
In addition to Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy and venture capitalist David Sacks also defended Krishnan and the H-1B program against attacks from far-right Trump supporter Laura Loomer. He called Krishnan’s hiring “deeply troubling” and said that “allowing executives from primary technology corporations into Mar-A-Lago would be the death of our country. ” Isn’t it? Trump sided with Musk on Saturday as the two deepened their alliance. Politicians and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have noted what they say is Musk’s growing influence over the new Trump administration, prompting some of Trump’s critics to attack him by suggesting that Musk is some kind of shadow president. Earlier this month, Musk killed the Republican administration’s initial spending plan when he criticized the bill in a series of tweets, prompting Trump to echo Musk’s considerations hours later and send Republicans back to the drawing board. Trump hired Musk and Ramaswamy to run a new Department of Government Effectiveness, and Musk was the biggest donor of the 2024 election cycle, donating more than $250 million to help Trump, who rejected Trump’s jabs. “President Musk. ”
In addition to generating H-1B corporations to hire engineers and other similar jobs, the program is used in a wide variety of industries, including architecture, medicine, education, business, law, theology and the arts. The United States issues 65,000 visas each year, plus 20,000 more to employees with a master’s degree or higher from a U. S. university. More than 700,000 people held H-1B visas in 2023, according to the American Immigration Council. They are valid for 3 years and can be extended for up to six years.
What are H-1B visas? Divisive immigration explained by Elon Musk and Trump’s allies (Forbes)
The Billionaires Trump’s Picked For Next Administration: Elon Musk, Tilman Fertitta And More (Forbes)
Trump’s Cabinet and key positions: Miami-Dade commissioner Kevin Cabrera and billionaire Tilman Fertitta among the latest nominees (Forbes)
A community. Many voices. Create a free account to share your thoughts.
Our network aims to connect others through open and thoughtful conversations. We need our readers to share their perspectives and exchange ideas and facts in one space.
To do this, please comply with the posting regulations in our site’s terms of use. We summarize some of those key regulations below. In short, civilized.
Your message will be rejected if we notice that it appears to contain:
User accounts will be locked if we become aware or that users are concerned about:
So how can you be a user?
Thank you for reading our Community Standards. Read the full list of posting regulations discovered in our site’s Terms of Use.