Musk and Ramaswamy defend foreign worker visas, sparking MAGA backlash

CNN
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Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s social media posts supporting the expansion of the visa program for high-skilled workers have sparked a debate among advocates President-elect Donald Trump on how the program should fit into the incoming administration’s aggressive immigration agenda.

Musk and Ramaswamy, whom Trump picked to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, have defended companies that use H-1B visa workers, arguing that tech companies — including those owned by Musk — depend on foreign workers to operate. But their message has upset some of Trump’s staunchest defenders, who expect his administration to crack down on immigration and promote the American workforce.

trump card restricted access on foreign worker visas during his first term and targeted the H-1B program in previous remarks. But during the 2024 campaign, Trump signaled openness to granting legal status to some foreign-born workers if they graduated from a US university.

One post on social media On Wednesday, Musk said U.S. tech companies need “double” the number of engineers working in America today and compared the benefits of the program to a professional sports team recruiting top talent from around the world.

“If you want your TEAM to win the championship, you need to recruit top talent wherever they are. That allows the whole TEAM to win,” Musk wrote on X.

“I see legal immigration of the top ~0.1% of engineering talent as critical to America continuing to win,” Musk wrote in another post. post Thursday. “Thinking of America as a professional sports team that has been winning for a long time and wants to keep winning is the right mental construct.”

Ramaswamy, a first-generation American citizen whose parents immigrated from India, agreed with Musk as he defended companies looking to hire outside the U.S., arguing that tech companies hire engineers born outside the U.S. or born in American immigrants because “American culture has revered mediocrity over excellence,” citing portrayals of smart students in the TV sitcoms “Boy Meets World,” “Saved By The Bell’ and ‘Family’. Matters” as evidence.

“Our American culture has worshiped mediocrity over excellence for far too long (at least since the 90s and probably longer). That doesn’t start in college, it starts YOUNG,” he he wrote Thursday. “A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champion, or playing in front of the grads, will not produce the best engineers.”

The support for foreign workers has drawn attacks from MAGA supporters who worry that an expansion of the H-1B program could undermine their desire to see immigration reduced under the Trump administration. Loyal supporters of Trump, as a far-right activist Laura Loomerconservative expert Ann Coulter and former Rep. Matt Gaetz criticized the two tech entrepreneurs for their stance.

“We saluted the tech bros as they came running to avoid their third-grade teacher choosing the gender of their child — and the obvious economic decline of Biden/Harris,” Gaetz wrote in a post on social media Thursday. “We didn’t ask them to come up with an immigration policy.”

Musk and Ramaswamy’s comments also drew traction CONVICTION from former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who responded to Ramaswamy’s post calling on the incoming administration to prioritize American workers over foreign workers.

“There is nothing wrong with American workers or American culture. All you have to do is look at the border and see how many want what we have. We should invest in and prioritize Americans, not foreign workers,” Haley wrote Thursday.

The H-1B visa program it allows 65,000 highly skilled workers to immigrate to the US each year to fill a specific job and grants another 20,000 visas to such workers who have received an advanced degree in the US. Economists argued that the program allows American companies to remain competitive and grow their businesses, creating more US jobs. The program is often associated with the technology sector, where companies have a high demand for skilled workers. Musk previously said he first immigrated to the US on an H1-B visa.

Trump has previously opposites H-1B visas, harshly criticizing them during his first presidential campaign as a vehicle for “abuse.” In a statement in 2016, Trump attacked the H-1B program as a method for US companies to bring foreign workers into the country “for the express purpose of displacing lower-wage American workers”.

In 2020, Trump restricted access to H-1B visas more occasions, are part of the administration’s effort to reduce legal immigration while responding to changing economic conditions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

But in the most recent presidential campaign, Trump appeared more tolerant of highly skilled foreigners coming to work in the US. One podcast interview in June, Trump said he wanted to grant permanent residency to any foreign national who graduates from a US college.

“What I want to do and what I’m going to do is — if you graduate from college, I think you should automatically get, as part of your degree, a green card to be able to stay in this country,” Trump said. “all in” podcast.

Musk’s clash with members of Trump’s base over the visa issue marks another chapter in the tech billionaire’s growing influence in the president-elect’s orbit. According to Musk led the opposition on a bipartisan government funding bill that was ultimately scrapped once Trump opposed it, Democrats began derisively labeling the tech mogul “President Musk” to suggest Musk dictates Trump’s policy goals . During remarks On Sunday, at a gathering of conservative activists in Arizona, Trump rejected the Democrats’ attacks.

“No, he’s not taking over the presidency. I like to have smart people,” he said. “I’m on a new kick. “Russia, Russia, Russia”, “Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine”, all the different pranks. The new one is “President Trump has ceded the presidency to Elon Musk.” No, no, that’s not happening.”