Donald Trump weighs in on H-1B: Been a believer… great programme

Trump’s remarks followed a series of social media posts from Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, who vowed late Friday to go to “war” to defend the visa programme for foreign tech workers.

The H-1B programme allows businesses in the US to employ skilled foreign nationals.

The topic has become a flashpoint within Trump’s conservative base. In the past, Trump has criticised the H-1B visas, calling them “very bad” and “unfair” for US workers. During his first term as President, he unveiled a “Hire American” policy that directed changes to the programme to try to ensure the visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most-skilled applicants..

The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B.

Take a big step back and FUCK YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 28, 2024

In his interview to the New York Post, Trump did not appear to address questions about whether he would pursue any changes to the number or use of the visas once he assumes office on January 20.

Trump’s hardline immigration policies, focused mostly on immigrants who are in the country illegally, were a cornerstone of his presidential campaign and a priority issue for his supporters. But in recent days, his coalition has split in a public debate, largely taking place online, about the tech industry’s hiring of foreign workers.

Hard-right members of Trump’s movement have accused Musk and others in Trump’s new flank of tech-world supporters of pushing policies at odds with Trump’s “America First” vision.

Software engineers and others in the tech industry have used H-1B visas for skilled foreign workers and say they are a critical tool for hard-to-fill positions. But critics have said they undercut US citizens who could take those jobs. Some on the right have called for the programme to be eliminated.

The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over “native” Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation). A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture. Tough questions demand tough answers & if…

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 26, 2024

Between October 2022 and September 2023, 72 per cent of the nearly 4 lakh visas issued under the H-1B programme went to Indian nationals. During the same period, top four Indian IT majors with a presence in the US — Infosys, TCS, HCL, and Wipro — obtained approval for around 20,000 employees to work on H-1B visas, as per the latest US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data.

Musk’s sharp and assertive take came days after a controversy broke out over the H-1B visas, prompted by the appointment of Sriram Krishnan as an adviser on artificial intelligence policy in the upcoming Trump administration. Krishnan had said in November, “Anything to remove country caps for green cards/ unlock skilled immigration would be huge.”

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 be investing and prioritizing in Americans, not foreign workers. https://t.co/fIGr45C3LD

— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) December 26, 2024

With Krishnan favouring the ability to bring more skilled immigrants into the US under the H-1B programme, right winger Laura Loomer criticised the stance to be “not America First policy” and said the tech executives who have aligned themselves with Trump were doing so to enrich themselves.

This has reopened the debate of immigration of skilled workers, with Musk, Krishnan and fellow tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy — who was a presidential candidate in the primaries before dropping out — supporting the H-1B visa programme even as right-wingers have criticised it.

Trump has appointed Musk and Ramaswamy to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the new US administration. Born in South Africa, Musk was once on an H-1B visa himself. —With Agencies