Argument of appearance strict immigration laws The issue of visas for skilled workers has become the first major debate among supporters of the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump – just a few weeks before the Republican Party elects the new president.
On one side are members of Trump's “Make America Great Again” group, or the MAGA group, who have called for the most talented people to be disrupted. H-1B visa as part of the president-elect's promise to tighten immigration and immigration.
Trump's campaign promises focused on the US-Mexico border, although he pursued other restrictions.
In one camp are prominent Trump supporters — including tech billionaire Elon Musk — who have defended the visas as essential to the growth of US industry and the economy.
Here's what you need to know.
How did this start?
The latest controversy erupted when Laura Loomer, a right-wing activist who has had close ties to Trump in the past, took to social media to criticize the president-elect's choice of an adviser on artificial intelligence, who has said the US needs more foreign aid. skilled workers to remain competitive in the technology industries.
The criticism of Loomer, who has been accused of racism and spreading conspiracy theories in the past, was quickly seized upon by several high-profile figures in the technology industry.
That includes SpaceX and Tesla CEO Musk, who was appointed by Trump to lead the government's advisory group.
In response, Loomer accused tech billionaires of lobbying Trump to benefit them.
“We need to protect President Trump from the experts,” Loomer said in a blog post on X on December 25.
Who receives H-1B visas?
H-1B visas are generally reserved for specialized foreign workers with a bachelor's degree or higher who are assigned to a temporary payroll job in a US company.
US officials can issue 65,000 new H-1B visas a year, adding 20,000 to people with a master's degree.
Visas can also be extended after employment, with more than 309,000 eligible for continued employment in 2022, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
About 70 percent of H-1B visa recipients are from India and another 10 percent are from China.
What have Musk and other H-1B advocates said?
Musk has said that “the number of people who are highly skilled AND highly motivated in the USA is very low” and explained that the H-1B program is very important “for those who want America to succeed”.
In several posts on X, which he has, Musk also promised to “go to war on this issue”.
Vivek Ramaswamy, a former presidential candidate who has been appointed to work with Musk on the government's executive board, has criticized the program as “very broken”, but is not in favor of eliminating them completely, instead saying that visas should be issued on merit.
Ramaswamy criticized the anti-immigration group of Trump supporters after writing on social media on Thursday that tech companies hired immigrants because “American culture values long-term failure”.
“A culture that celebrates the prom queen at the math olympiad, or the jock at the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers,” he wrote.
What about Trump?
Trump addressed the issue for the first time on Saturday.
He told the New York Post: “I have a lot of H-1B visas at my place. I've always been an H-1B believer.”
“I've used it many times,” he said, referring to his real estate businesses. “It's a great program.”
However, the speech was the departure of the president-elect.
In the past, he has criticized the visas as “extremely bad” and “unfair” for US workers and his administration has sought to increase barriers to applicants during his first term.
Why is this important?
The back-and-forth confirms the growing problem between many of those who supported Trump and those like Musk who only embraced him in the 2024 election. Many of the latter – like Musk – are associated with the technology industry, and do not like to develop nativist voices.
The conflict could inform the next four years of Trump's presidency, with Musk already warning of a “MAGA civil war” over the issue.
Many supporters of Trump during his first term joined in, with psychologist Steve Bannon criticizing the “Big Tech oligarchs” who support the visas.