Washington, USA:
Donald Trump on Saturday joined a heated debate that has divided traditional supporters and tech giants like Elon Musk in favor of a special visa program to help high-skilled workers enter the country. Then he said.
“I’ve always loved (H1-B) visas, I’ve always supported visas. That’s why we have visas,” the president-elect told the New York Post in his first public comments at a Trump-owned facility. spoke. on this issue since it flared up again this week.
A bitter spat erupted between Musk and traditional anti-immigrant Trump supporters, mainly from Silicon Valley, with Musk even vowing to “go to war” over the issue.
Trump’s persistent calls for deep immigration cuts were central to his victory over President Joe Biden in November’s election. He vowed to deport all illegal immigrants and limit legal immigration.
But tech entrepreneurs like Tesla Inc.’s Musk and Vivek Ramaswami, who co-chaired the government’s cost-cutting committee with him under the Trump administration, argue that the U.S. has too few highly skilled graduates. They passionately defend H1. B program.
Musk himself, who immigrated from South Africa on H1-B, posted on his X Platform on Thursday that attracting top engineering talent from overseas is “essential for America to continue winning.”
Adding vitriol to the debate was a post by Ramaswamy, the son of Indian immigrants, who lamented an “American culture” that worships mediocrity and said the U.S. was in danger of “getting its donkey handed over by China.” he added.
That infuriated several prominent conservatives who had supported Trump long before Musk vociferously joined the Republican movement this year, pouring more than $250 million into Republican campaigns. .
“I’m looking forward to the inevitable divorce between President Trump and Big Tech,” said Laura Loomer, a far-right MAGA figure known for her conspiracy theories. She often flew with Trump on his campaign plane.
“We have to protect President Trump from the technocrats.”
They argued that President Trump should promote American workers and further restrict immigration.
“MAGA Civil War”
Musk hit back at his critics last week after leading an online campaign to push for a bipartisan budget deal, which had already angered some Republicans.
He posted on his social media site X, warning of a “MAGA civil war.”
Mr. Musk bluntly vowed to one critic: “We’re going to go to war on this issue.”
This in turn prompted a salvo from Trump strategist Steve Bannon. Bannon wrote on the Gettr platform that the H1-B program accepts immigrants who are essentially “indentured servants” who work for less than American citizens.
Mr. Bannon aggressively attacked Mr. Musk, a close friend of Mr. Trump, and called the Tesla CEO a “toddler.”
Some of Mr. Trump’s early supporters fear that he is drifting away from his campaign promises, influenced by big tech donors like Mr. Musk, he said.
It was not immediately clear whether Trump’s comments would defuse intra-party divisions, highlighting just how contentious changes to the immigration system will be once he takes office in January.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
