H-1B visa debate sparks MAGA infighting

Some of President-elect Donald Trump's staunchest supporters are publicly arguing over the merits of the H-1B visa program and the thousands of people from overseas who have benefited from it. The debate devolved into a very public civil war within Trump's coalition, involving far-right pundits and his billionaire tech mogul backers. The fissure between the two factions seemed to stem from diverging interests in the immigration program, showing some early cracks in Trump's expanded MAGA alliance.

Background

The H-1B visa is meant for professionals with a "theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge" and a bachelor's degree or higher in their field, said the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. Recipients with the visa may work in the country for three years, which could be extended to up to six years. A U.S. company must offer applicants temporary employment at a wage that's not lower than that paid to similarly qualified workers.

The latest

A disagreement over the legal immigration of H-1B visa recipients led to a public spat online between high-profile Trump supporters, "signifying a potential rift between Trump's core nationalist base and technology executives who have come to support him," said The Washington Post. Political activist Laura Loomer stirred the anti-H-1B discourse after criticizing the president-elect's appointment of Sriram Krishnan, a tech investor born in India, as an artificial intelligence adviser. Loomer has argued on X that Krishnan's stance on bringing skilled foreign workers into the country contradicts Trump's "America First" vision. Loomer falsely claimed Krishnan sought to remove all caps on H-1B visas.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Tech mogul Elon Musk clashed with some far-right Trump supporters on his platform X after he defended the tech industry's use of H-1B to recruit highly skilled workers overseas. "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 H-1B," the Tesla and SpaceX CEO said on X. "I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend." The visa discourse has "erupted into a full-blown storm" following comments from Vivek Ramaswamy, Musk's co-chair of the Department of Government Efficiency, said CNN. Ramaswamy pointed the finger at American culture, education standards, and children's TV that have "venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long."

Loomer has retaliated with a slew of racist posts describing Indians as "third world invaders" with low IQs while dubbing the clash a "civil war" between Trump's far-right base and the "tech bros" that have been supporting him. Steve Bannon, who served in the first Trump administration, called the H-1B visa program a "total and complete scam" on his "War Room" podcast. Silicon Valley leaders are "taking American jobs and bringing over what essentially become indentured servants at lower wages," he said. Pushback against Musk's position reportedly led his platform to revoke several blue check mark verifications, including Loomer's. "So much for free speech," she said in an X post. "Quite totalitarian, if you ask me."

The reaction

Trump has seemingly aligned himself with Musk and Ramaswamy and said he has "always been in favor of the visas" in an interview with the New York Post. "That's why we have them. I have many H-1B visas on my properties," he said, calling it a "great program."

Whether this heated public debate will affect policy in Trump's second administration remains to be seen. There is no "modern precedent for a faction of a president's power base being led by someone as rich, mercurial and powerful as Musk with immediate access to a mighty social media network," Stephen Collinson said at CNN. The president-elect promised to reduce prices, but he has chosen chiefly a Cabinet of billionaires and millionaires who have not had to "worry about such matters for years." If Trump's Cabinet secretaries are as "zealous in pursuing their personal goals as Musk," his administration's policy may "appear inconsistent and out of touch."