Former President Donald Trump’s sudden embrace of H-1B visas has exposed a growing rift between his tech industry supporters and immigration hardliners, complicating his stance on foreign workers ahead of his return to the White House.
“I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program,” Trump told The New York Post on Saturday, appearing to conflate different visa programs. (Records show his companies primarily used H-2 visas for unskilled workers rather than the H-1B program for tech talent.)
The statement contrasts with his previous opposition to the program in 2016, sparking intense debate among his supporters. Immigration was one of Trump’s loudest talking points in his 2024 campaign. It also goes against MAGA’s “America First” anti-immigration doctrine.
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Trump’s almost seismic shift also underlines Elon Musk’s growing influence on the incoming president.
Long-time Trump senior adviser Stephen Bannon denounced Musk’s claims on the matter and called him a “toddler” on X.
“This is war,” Bannon said in an interview last Saturday. “I’m glad we’re having this debate now before Trump takes office.”
Bannon claimed that both H-1B and H-2 visas only benefit billionaires and bring down wages for American workers. Right-wing activist Laura Loomer also criticized Musk’s stance and told New York Times that she foresees it as “national security risk.” She later posted about how “technocratic billionaires from Silicon Valley are trying to infiltrate the White House to push for multi polarity so they can establish an American monarchy.”
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Musk, who says he previously held an H-1B visa, is defending the program as crucial for addressing engineering talent shortages — he warned that he would “go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend.” His company Tesla received 724 H-1B visas this year.
The skilled worker program is currently capped at 65,000 visas annually, while Trump’s businesses were approved for over 1,000 H-2 visas for unskilled workers between 2003 and 2017.
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