A discussion broke out on social media about the entry of trained workers into the US, supported by Elon Musk, and Donald Trump's base opposed to all types of immigration.
An online dispute between factions of President-elect Donald Trump's supporters over immigration and the tech industry has revealed internal divisions in his political movement, a preview of the fissures and contradictory opinions his coalition could bring to the White House. .
The rift laid bare tensions between the newest flank of Trump's movement: wealthy members of the tech world, including billionaire Elon Musk and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, and his call for more high-skilled workers in his industry, and the bases of Trump's “Make America Great Again” movement who supported his strict policies to regulate immigration.
The debate began this week when Laura Loomer, a right-wing activist with a history of racist and conspiratorial comments, criticized Trump's choice of Sriram Krishnan to be his AI policy advisor in his next administration. Krishnan favors having the ability to bring more skilled immigrants to the United States.
Loomer declared that the stance “is not (a) policy that puts America first,” and declared that the tech executives who have aligned themselves with Trump do so to enrich themselves.
Much of the debate took place on the social network X, which is owned by Musk.
Loomer's comments sparked an argument with venture capitalist and former PayPal executive David Sacks, whom Trump has named to be the “White House artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency czar.”
Musk and Ramaswamy, who Trump has tasked with finding ways to shrink the federal government, weighed in defending the tech industry's need to bring in foreign workers.
The debate turned into a broader discussion, in which more far-right figures weighed in on the need to hire American workers, whether the values of American culture can produce the best engineers, freedom of expression on the Internet, the new influence that some characters in the technological sphere have in Trump's world, and what his political movement defends.
Trump has not yet commented on the division. His presidential transition team did not respond to questions about positions on high-skilled worker visas or the debate among his online followers.
Instead, his team sent a link to a post on social network the one that praised characters and moments in American history.
Musk, the richest man in the world and now notably close to the president-elect, was a central figure in the debate, not only because of the high position he occupies in the Trump movement, but because of his stance on the hiring of foreign workers by of the technology industry.
Tech companies say H-1B skilled worker visas, used by software engineers and others in the tech industry, are crucial for jobs that are difficult to fill with qualified staff. But critics have said they go against American citizens who could fill those jobs. Some on the right have called for the program to be eliminated, not expanded.
Born in South Africa, Musk once held an H-1B visa, and championed the industry's need to bring in foreign workers.
“There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent,” he said in a publication. “It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.”
Trump's own stances over the years have reflected the division in his movement.
His strict immigration policies, including his promise to implement mass deportation, were central to his winning presidential campaign. He has focused on immigrants who enter the United States illegally, but has also sought restrictions on legal immigration, including visas that allow close relatives of American residents to immigrate to the country.
When he was a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump said the H-1B visa program was “very bad” and “unfair” to American workers.
After becoming president, Trump issued the “Buy American and Hire American” executive order in 2017, asking Cabinet members to suggest changes to ensure that H-1B visas were awarded to the highest-paid or most eligible applicants. qualified in order to protect American workers.
However, Trump's businesses have hired foreign workers, including waiters and cooks at his Mar-a-Lago club, and his social media company behind his Truth Social app has used the H-1B program to take in highly qualified workers. qualified.
During his 2024 presidential campaign, in which he made immigration his signature issue, Trump said that immigrants in the country illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country,” and promised to carry out the largest deportation operation. great in American history.
But in a marked departure from his usual alarmist message about immigration in general, Trump declared in a podcast this year that he wants to automatically give green cards (which authorize permanent residency) to foreign students who graduate from American universities.
“I think you should automatically get, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country,” he said on the “All-In” podcast with people from the world of venture capital and technology.
He made those comments on the threshold of Trump's budding alliance with tech industry figures, but he did not make the idea a regular part of his campaign message or detail plans to seek such changes.