Musk Seems to Reconsider Pro-Foreign Worker and H-1B Visa Position Following Online Dispute
“I’ve been very clear that the program is flawed and requires significant reform,” Musk stated regarding H-1B visas.
Tesla mogul and X owner Elon Musk seemed to take a more lenient view on H-1B visas last Saturday night, saying he would “go to war” for these visas amid an escalating online debate concerning immigration and the tech sector.
Conflicts have arisen among wealthy figures in technology, including Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who advocate for what they call highly skilled workers through the H-1B visa program, versus Trump supporters who have advocated for stricter immigration policies favoring American workers.
“A simple solution would be to significantly raise the minimum salary and implement an annual fee for maintaining the H-1B, making it considerably more expensive to hire from abroad compared to hiring domestically,” he shared. “I’ve made it clear that this program is broken and needs substantial reform.”
Musk’s comments were in reply to investor Robert Sterling, who expressed that “America should be a magnet for the world’s top talent. However, the H-1B program isn’t an effective way to achieve that.”
The H-1B visa scheme permits up to 65,000 highly skilled foreign workers each year, along with an additional 20,000 who have obtained advanced degrees from U.S. institutions, to take on specialized roles within the U.S. labor market.
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Additionally, Musk faced allegations of censorship from conservatives as several prominent accounts that critiqued his positions on immigration and H-1B visas lost access to premium features.
Loomer asserted this action was in retaliation for her criticisms of Musk and his allies regarding immigration and H-1B visas.
Subsequently, Loomer mentioned that her account lost access to premium features.
Musk has yet to publicly address the recent allegations of censorship on X. The Epoch Times reached out to the platform for comment but did not receive a reply by Sunday.
“A culture that honors the prom queen over the math olympiad champion, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not yield the best engineers,” Ramaswamy contended. “A culture that holds Cory from ‘Boy Meets World,’ or Zach & Slater over Screech in ‘Saved by the Bell,’ or ‘Stefan’ over Steve Urkel in ‘Family Matters,’ will not produce top-quality engineers.”
Musk seemingly echoed his sentiments by stating in a post that the “number of individuals who are exceptionally talented engineers AND exceptionally driven in the USA is far too low.” Many pro-Trump accounts reacted negatively to Musk’s and Ramaswamy’s remarks.
“I have many H-1B visas for my properties. I’m a strong believer in the H-1B program. I’ve utilized it numerous times. It’s an excellent program,” Trump stated, even though he limited access to such visas during his first term.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
