A Trump World civil war is brewing over visas for high-skilled workers, with the president-elect's new tech allies like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy on one side and anti-immigrant allies on the other. There is a MAGA base.
The clash foreshadows the challenges in uniting the Trump administration as it implements the immigration policies that were the driving force behind its 2024 victory.
But while President-elect Trump has promised to cut off illegal immigration at the southern border and launch a large-scale deportation effort, the latest debate has targeted legal immigrants and is part of a larger group on the right. , sometimes exposing racist anti-immigrant sentiment.
The debate was sparked on Sunday by President Trump's announcement that he would appoint Sriram Krishnan as White House policy adviser on artificial intelligence. Krishnan immediately came under fire “Eliminating country caps on green cards and unlocking skilled immigration would all be huge,” he wrote in response to a November post proposing changes to the immigration system. ”
Far-right provocateur Laura Loomer Calling the comments “alarming,” Mr. Krishnan accused him of helping foreigners “come to the United States and take jobs that should be given to American STEM students.”
Much of the discussion began to focus on: H-1B visa programEmployer-sponsored visa for highly skilled professionals, primarily for computer- and technology-related jobs. Congress capped the program at 65,000 people a year, plus an additional 20,000 for foreign professionals who graduate with master's or doctoral degrees from U.S. universities.
MAGA base officials claim the visa program is being used to undermine American workers.
Some of the reactions online were blatantly racist against Indians. By law, green cards can only be issued to applicants from a single country for up to 7% of the annual issuance amount. of Majority of pending applicants I'm from India. And Indian workers make up the majority of H-1B recipients, accounting for 72% of them. Approved in 2023.
Meanwhile, a wave of Trump supporters in the tech industry expressed support for bringing in highly skilled foreign workers.
Musk, who has become a close ally of President Trump since the election, argued in posts on his social platform The South African-born tech billionaire once held an H-1B visa himself.
“Obviously, my company and I want to hire Americans, and we do because it's much easier than going through the incredibly painful and time-consuming work visa process.” said the head of Tesla and SpaceX. “But there is a serious shortage of highly talented and motivated engineers in America.”
Ramaswamy, who co-chairs the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) created by President Trump with Musk. Formerly called “intestine” He participated in the H-1B visa program during his own presidential campaign. But he echoed this argument, blaming American culture for the lack of American-born engineers, and said the sitcom “Saved by the Bell” and its characters Zack and Slater were better than school nerd Screech. is also “respected”.
His comments were not well-received by fellow conservatives. Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley criticized Ramaswamy, saying there was “nothing wrong with American workers or American culture.”
“All you have to do is look at the border and see how many people want what we have. We want Americans, not foreign workers. Invest and prioritize,” she wrote to X.
Other Silicon Valley conservatives have weighed in on the debate, including venture capitalists David Sachs and Joe Lonsdale, who have said they support expanding high-skilled immigration.
Mr. Sachs, who is set to become White House czar of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies, defended Mr. Krishnan, saying that what Mr. Krishnan is calling for is the removal of country-specific caps on green cards, and the removal of all green card caps. He emphasized that this is not a restriction.
“Supporting a limited number of highly skilled immigrants remains a common view on the right. Sriram is by no means a 'career leftist'!” Sacks said of Loomer's comments on Krishnan. In response to the comments, he said:
Lonsdale, who is reportedly involved in DOGE's planning efforts along with Musk and Ramaswamy, is “opposed to increasing the number of low-income H1B immigrants,” but says the U.S. is “in the race for talent.” “We should win,” he said.
Another type of foreign worker visa, the O-1 visa, is designed for “individuals with extraordinary ability or achievement” and has no cap, but is much lower than the H-1B visa each year. Awarded to an individual.
The main players aimed to finish things off smoothly. musk I agree with the post by X The paper said the H-1B visa system is being used to attract “high-quality engineers” but is “poorly implemented and being abused like crazy,” to which Musk responded, “That's right. ” he answered.
Sachs also seemed intent on bridging the widening gap, stressing that he has “complete” confidence in Stephen Miller, the incoming White House deputy director of immigration policy.
“What I oppose is a baseless witch hunt against Americans who are qualified to serve as AI advisors,” he added.
Mr. Musk, Mr. Ramaswamy and Mr. Sachs are part of a growing group of Silicon Valley conservatives heading to Washington to join the incoming Trump administration after supporting the president-elect during the campaign.
Silicon Valley has long been seen as a liberal stronghold, but fissures appeared in the industry earlier this year when more tech executives, including former Democratic donors, endorsed Mr. Trump.
Mr. Musk, who has poured at least $250 million into Mr. Trump's campaign, has become a key figure in the president-elect's inner circle beyond his official position as DOGE co-chairman. The tech billionaire played a central role in passing a bipartisan deal for year-end funding in Congress earlier this month, leading some to jokingly refer to him as “President Musk.”
Mr. Musk's newfound prominence in Republican circles further complicates matters for those who oppose him on immigration policy.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who will co-chair the DOGE subcommittee in the next Congress, criticizes the H-1B program but calls for a stronger work-for-works culture. I partially sympathized with Ramaswamy's call.
“Turn off your selfie lights and apply for jobs, replacing the jobs of H1-B visa holders and all the other skilled workers that foreign workers are hiring and American companies are desperately trying to hire.” Mr. Green said. Posted in X.
Still, the relatively new alliance between the MAGA world and Silicon Valley conservatives is already showing signs of fraying.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), whom President Trump nominated to be attorney general before he resigned amid an ethics scandal, argued that conservatives don't want tech executives to be involved in immigration policy.
“We welcomed our tech buddies as they rushed in to avoid third-grade teacher gender selection of children and the apparent decline of the Biden/Harris economy,” Gates wrote in X. “We didn't ask them to create immigration policy.”
Miller, the architect of President Trump's immigration policy during his first term, said this, perhaps in a subtle response to division. I posted an excerpt From the speech President Trump gave on Mount Rushmore on the eve of Independence Day 2020, the words “Only in America, not anywhere else” are a reference to the likes of the Wright brothers, the Tuskegee Airmen, Elvis Presley, and Muhammad Ali. It could have created an icon.
Ramaswamy sought to find common ground with Miller, arguing in a repost that this is “the very American spirit we need to restore.”
Meanwhile, Trump himself has remained silent on the issue amid the heated debate over I posted about Ainsley Earhart's engagement.
But Trump criticized in 2016 It argued that the H-1B program imports foreign workers “for the express purpose of replacing U.S. workers at lower wages.” His first term government aimed to increase wage requirements However, this rule was ultimately blocked.
