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The war begins in the Trump camp: Everyone against Elon Musk after he came out in support of qualified immigrants

2024-12-27 22:03:05Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
The war begins in the Trump camp: Everyone against Elon Musk after he came out
Musk and Trump

Social media posts by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy arguing in favor of expanding the visa program for skilled immigrant workers in the US have sparked a debate among supporters of President-elect Donald Trump over how the program should fit into the incoming administration's aggressive immigration agenda.

Musk and Ramaswamy, whom Trump has tapped to lead his Department of Government Efficiency, defended companies that contract with workers on H-1B visas, arguing that tech companies – including those owned by Musk – depend on foreign workers to operate.

But their message angered many of Trump's most loyal defenders, who expect his administration to crack down on immigration and promote American jobs.

Trump restricted access to visas for foreign workers during his first term and has often criticized the H-1B program in the past. But during the 2024 campaign, Trump signaled an openness to granting some foreign-born workers legal status if they graduated from a U.S. university.

In a social media post on Wednesday, Musk said that American technology companies need "double" the number of engineers working in America today and compared the benefits of the program to a professional sports team recruiting the best talent from around the world.

"If you want your Team to win the championship, you have to recruit the best talent wherever they are. This allows the entire TEAM to win," Musk wrote on X.

"I'm referring to bringing in the 0.1% of engineering talent through legal immigration as essential for America to continue winning," Musk wrote in another post on 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," he emphasized.

Ramaswamy, a first-generation American citizen whose parents immigrated from India, agreed with Musk as he defended companies seeking workers from outside the US, arguing that tech companies hire engineers who were born outside the US or born to American immigrants because "American culture has honored mediocrity over excellence."

"Our American culture has honored mediocrity over excellence for a long time (at least since the '90s and probably longer). It doesn't start in college, it starts with young people," he wrote Thursday.

The support for foreign workers drew attacks from MAGA supporters, who are concerned that an expansion of the H-1B program could undermine their desire to see immigration curbed under the Trump administration.

Loyal Trump supporters like far-right activist Laura Loomer, conservative pundit Ann Coulter and former congressman Matt Gaetz have criticized the two tech entrepreneurs for their stance.

"We welcomed the tech bros when they came running to avoid their third-grade teacher choosing their child's gender - and the apparent Biden/Harris economic collapse," Gaetz wrote in a social media post on Thursday.

Musk and Ramaswamy's comments also drew the attention of former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, who responded to the posts by calling on the incoming administration to prioritize American workers over foreign workers.

"There is nothing wrong with American workers or American culture. Just look at the border and see how much they want what we have. We should invest and prioritize Americans, not foreign workers," Haley wrote Thursday.

Musk and Ramaswamy's position has also found support among some Democrats. The H-1B visa program allows 65,000 highly skilled workers to immigrate to the U.S. each year to fill a specific job vacancy and grants an additional 20,000 visas to such workers who have earned an advanced degree in the U.S. Economists have argued that the program allows American companies to remain competitive and grow their businesses, creating more jobs in the U.S. The program is often associated with the technology sector, where companies have a high demand for specialized workers.

Musk came to the U.S. as a foreign student and later worked on an H1-B visa. Trump has previously opposed H-1B visas, harshly criticizing them during his first presidential campaign as a tool for “abuse.” In a 2016 statement, Trump attacked the H-1B program as a method for American companies to bring foreign workers into the country “with the express intent of replacing American workers with lower wages.”

In 2020, Trump restricted access to H-1B visas in several cases, part of the administration's effort to curb legal immigration in response to changing economic conditions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

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

"What I want to do and what I will do is when 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.

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.

After Musk led the opposition to a bipartisan government funding bill that was ultimately scrapped once Trump came out against it, Democrats began derisively labeling the tech mogul "President Musk" to suggest the Tesla CEO's policy goals were dictated to Trump.

During speeches at a rally of conservative activists in Arizona on Sunday, Trump shot down Democrats' theses about Musk.

"No, he's not going to take the presidency. I like to have smart people. They're making a new call. From Russia, Russia, Russia, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, all the different hoaxes. The new one is 'President Trump has given the presidency to Elon Musk.' No, no, that's not happening," Trump said.

 

 


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