Trump sides with Elon Musk in H-1B visa debate, says he’s always been in favor of the Reuters program
Author: Nandita Bose
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday sided with a key backer of billionaire technology executive Elon Musk in a public dispute over the use of H-1B visas, saying he fully supported the foreign technology worker program some of his supporters objected.
Trump’s remarks followed a series of social media posts from Musk, the Tesla (NASDAQ: ) and SpaceX chief executive, who vowed late Friday to go to “war” to defend a visa program for foreign tech workers.
Trump, who tried to limit the use of visas during his first term as president, told The New York Post on Saturday that he also favors the visa program.
“I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I have been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It is a great program,” he was quoted as saying.
Musk, a naturalized American citizen born in South Africa, holds an H-1B visa, and his electric car company Tesla has received 724 visas this year. H-1B visas are usually for three-year periods, although holders can extend them or apply for green cards.
The spat was sparked earlier this week by far-right activists who criticized Trump’s selection of Sriram Krishnan, an Indian-American venture capitalist, as an artificial intelligence adviser, saying he would influence the Trump administration’s immigration policy.
Musk’s tweet was aimed at Trump supporters and immigration hardliners who have increasingly pushed to end the H-1B visa program amid a heated debate over immigration and the place of skilled immigrants and foreign workers brought into the country on work visas.
On Friday, Steve Bannon, a longtime Trump confidant, criticized the “big tech oligarchs” for supporting the H-1B program and described immigration as a threat to Western civilization.
In response, Musk and many other tech billionaires have drawn a line between what they consider legal immigration and illegal immigration.
Trump has promised to deport all immigrants who are in the US illegally, impose tariffs to create more jobs for American citizens and severely limit immigration.
The visa issue underscores how tech leaders like Musk — who has taken on an important role in the presidential transition, advising on key personnel and policy areas — are now drawing attention from his base.
The U.S. technology industry relies on the government’s H-1B visa program to hire skilled foreign workers to help run its companies, a workforce that critics say depresses wages for American citizens.
Musk spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars helping Trump get elected in November. He’s been posting regularly this week about the lack of homegrown talent to fill all the necessary positions at US tech companies.
