US President-elect Donald Trump has spoken out for the first time on the issue of immigration for sought-after workers, which has been bitterly disputed among his supporters. Trump spoke in the New York Post on Saturday in favor of issuing certain visas to highly qualified workers in the USA. In doing so, he supported his future advisors Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. “I have many H-1B visa holders in my properties. I have always been a supporter of H-1B,” Trump said.
With their call for the issuance of US visas in the H-1B category for skilled workers, Musk and Ramaswamy sparked a heated debate among traditional supporters of the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement. “I have always believed in the H1-B program. I have used it many times,” said Trump in his first public comment on the debate that erupted this week, with a view to employees in the companies belonging to his family empire.
Donald Trump and Elon Musk need the visa
H-1B visas officially grant foreigners permission to enter and work in the United States for up to three years. This type of visa allows companies to bring foreign workers with certain qualifications to the USA. The visa category is particularly used by Silicon Valley.
In the past, Trump had spoken out against H1-B visas, which he described as “very unfair to our American workers.” During his first term in office, he also introduced some restrictions on this visa category, which were later lifted by the administration of outgoing President Joe Biden.
Musk wants to “go to war” for the visa
Tech billionaire Musk, who once came to the USA from South Africa on such a visa, railed on his online service X on Friday that the H-1B visa was the reason “why I am in America, as one of the important forces that SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies have built.” On Thursday, Tesla’s CEO told X that recruiting top talent from abroad is “essential for America to continue winning.” He even announced that he would “go to war” over the issue.
Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who are set to take on posts as external advisers on government efficiency in the Trump administration, also said that, in their view, there are not enough highly qualified university graduates in the United States. A post by Ramaswamy provided additional fuel for the debate. In it, the billionaire entrepreneur, who is himself the son of Indian immigrants, takes issue with an “American culture” that, in his view, prefers mediocrity to excellence.
Many Trump supporters now feel they have been betrayed on the immigration issue. Trump’s former adviser in the White House, the ultra-right agitator Steve Bannon, denounced in a podcast program on Friday a “scam by the oligarchs from Silicon Valley” to “take over the jobs of American citizens.”
When it comes to immigration, Trump is committed to implementing a rigorous deportation policy. During the election campaign, he announced that if re-elected he would order the largest mass deportation of undocumented immigrants in US history. Trump’s demands for a drastic limit on immigration were not least decisive for his victory in the presidential election in November.
