Why are US Republicans debating the future of H-1B skilled work visas? | Business and Economic News

Debate over which form strict immigration policy The question of whether they will receive high-skilled work visas has become the first major policy debate between prominent supporters of US President-elect Donald Trump – just weeks into the new Republican presidency.

On one side, members of Trump’s Make America Great Again, or MAGA, movement have called for a crackdown on highly skilled professionals. H-1B visa as part of the president-elect’s broader pledge to crack down on migration and immigration.

Trump’s campaign promises focused specifically on the US-Mexico border, although he has imposed other restrictions.

In the other camp are prominent Trump supporters, including tech billionaire Elon Musk, who argue that visas are essential to US industrial and economic development.

Here’s what you need to know.

How did it start?

The latest debate began when Laura Loomer, a far-right activist with close ties to Trump in the past, took to social media to criticize the president-elect’s selection of an AI adviser, arguing that the US needs more foreign experts. skilled workers to be competitive in technology industries.

Loomer’s criticism, which has been accused of racism and spreading conspiracy theories in the past, was quickly picked up by several high-profile figures in the tech industry.

That includes SpaceX and Musk, the Tesla CEO tapped by Trump to lead an advisory council on government efficiency.

In response, Loomer accused tech billionaires of influencing Trump for their own benefit.

“We must protect President Trump from the technocrats,” Loomer wrote in a Dec. 25 X op-ed.

Who Gets H-1B Visas?

H-1B visas are typically reserved for skilled foreign workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher who are offered temporary employment in the United States at industry-standard wages.

US authorities can issue 65,000 new H-1B visas per year, with an additional 20,000 visas for people with master’s degrees.

According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, more than 309,000 visas approved to continue working in fiscal year 2022 may be extended after they expire.

About 70 percent of H-1B visa recipients are from India, with another 10 percent from China.

What did Musk and other H-1B advocates say?

Musk said that “the number of super-talented engineers and super-motivated people in the United States is very small” and described the H-1B program as critical “for those who want America to win.”

In a series of posts on X, which he also owns, Musk promised to “go to war on this issue.”

Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who was tapped to work with Musk on a government efficiency board, criticized the program as “badly broken” but did not support eliminating it entirely, saying visas should be issued on merit.

Ramaswamy took to social media on Thursday to challenge a hard-line anti-immigration faction of Trump supporters, saying tech companies hire immigrants because “American culture has for too long favored perfection.”

“A culture that celebrates the Math Olympiad champion or the athlete by the competitor will not produce the best engineers,” he said.

And Trump?

Trump discussed the issue for the first time on Saturday.

“I have a lot of H-1B visas in my properties,” he told the New York Post. I believed in H-1B.”

“I’ve used it many times,” he said, referring to his own real estate ventures. “Great app.”

However, the statements were a departure for the president-elect.

In the past, he has criticized visas as “very bad” and “unfair” for US workers, and his administration has sought to raise barriers to applicants during his first term.

Why does this matter?

The back-and-forth highlights a growing fault line between many of Trump’s early supporters and those like Musk, who embraced him only in the 2024 campaign. Many of the latter – like Musk – are associated with the tech industry and are less inclined to fuel nativist rhetoric.

The infighting could inform Trump’s next four years, with Musk already warning of a “MAGA civil war” over the issue.

Some of Trump’s most prominent supporters in his first term, including strategist Steve Bannon, joined in by condemning the “Big Tech oligarchs” who support the visas.