Elon Musk admitted that the H1-B visas are “broken” and floated a potential fix as he sought to cool a raging civil war within the MAGA base over the immigration program for highly skilled foreign workers.
Just a day after vowing to “go to war on this issue” and telling detractors to “F— yourself,” Musk, the world’s richest man, acknowledged some of the criticisms of the program getting abused and argued that the US should make it more costly to hire foreigners.
“Easily fixed by raising the minimum salary significantly and adding a yearly cost for maintaining the H1B, making it materially more expensive to hire from overseas than domestically,” Musk wrote on X late Saturday in response to a thread claiming H1-B visas were being used to hire low-wage programmers and developers.
“I’ve been very clear that the program is broken and needs major reform,” he added. “I’m confident that the changes made in the @realDonaldTrump administration will make America much stronger.”
The controversy continued to boil even after President-elect Trump waded into the debate on Saturday, telling The Post that, “I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them.”
Shortly before Christmas, several MAGA diehards including Laura Loomer began raging against the Dec. 22 announcement of venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan to serve as the incoming Trump administration’s senior policy adviser for artificial intelligence (AI).
Loomer, 31, in particular, began fuming at the growing influence of the “tech bros” in Trump’s orbit who harbor comparatively lax views on immigration. From there, a rift opened between the MAGA base over the H1-B visa system — which allows highly skilled foreign workers into the country if companies show they can’t find American talent to fill the roles..
The program is particularly favored by Silicon Valley — and critics (some using racist language) pointed out that many of the tech workers from India.
Musk and fellow Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) co-head Vivek Ramaswamy, 39, eventually chimed in and defended H1-B visas, which allow up to some 65,000 guest workers into the US.
The tech bros contended that H1-B visas are crucial to the US attracting top-tier talent for the development of cutting-edge technologies such as AI and that it has been a boon for the economy.
On the other side, immigration hardliners argued that the program was effectively indentured servitude — trapping foreigners at certain companies due to their desire to stay in the US — and that companies were exploiting the system for cheaper labor.
Critics also lamented the lack of the US education system’s ability to produce more top-notch talent in occupations that dominate H1-B visas.
Under his first administration, Trump ratcheted up restrictions on the program. And in his forthcoming second administration, he’s tapped immigration hardliner Stephen Miller as his deputy chief of staff for policy.
Musk, who is South African-born and became a US citizen in 2002, went on a tirade against critics of H1-B visas during the heated spat.
“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 H1B,” he fumed on X Friday.
“Take a big step back and F— YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend.”
Musk argued that H1-B visas are necessary for companies to recruit “the top ~0.1% of engineering talent.”
Ramaswamy, who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, had also caused a stir with a lengthy X post that slammed American culture for celebrating high school jocks over math nerds. In that post, he also tore into popular sitcoms and movies that he claimed promulgated that culture.
Throughout the discourse over H1-B visas, Musk had repeatedly maintained that the H1-B visa system needed to be “overhauled” and reformed” — something Ramaswamy had echoed as well.
Both Musk and Ramaswamy have suggested that the H1-B visa system needs to be remolded into something that is more meritocratic.
Others, including conservative pundit Ann Coulter and former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon had railed against Musk — claiming the visa program takes jobs and kills away from Americans.
