Trump defends foreign worker visas, sides with Musk amid MAGA backlash

CNN
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President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday defended the visa program that allows highly skilled foreign workers to immigrate to the United States, marking his first comments on an issue that has divided his supporters this week.

Trump said in one interview with The New York Post that he is “a believer in the H-1B,” referring to the visas granted to thousands of foreign workers who immigrate to the United States to fill specialized jobs. In his first term, Trump limited access to visas for foreign workers, and he has criticized the program in the past. But during the 2024 campaign, Trump signaled openness to giving some foreign-born workers legal status if they graduated from an American university.

“I have always liked visas, I have always been a supporter of visas. That’s why we have them,” Trump told The New York Post on Saturday.

“I have a lot of H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve believed in H-1B. I’ve used it many times. It’s a great program,” he added.

Trump’s comments mark the first time he has weighed in on the issue since entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, whom Trump has tapped to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, defended the foreign worker visa program, igniting sharp criticism from MAGA loyalists hoping on limiting immigration.

Over several days this week, Musk has passionately defended H-1B visas in social media posts, arguing for their importance in allowing tech companies — including his own — to grow their businesses. In a post on Friday, Musk said he will “go to war” to protect access to H-1B visas.

“The reason I’m in America with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of the H1B,” wrote the tech mogul. “I will go to war on this issue which you cannot possibly understand.”

Musk, who was born in South Africa and gained Canadian citizenship through his mother, came to the United States as a foreign student and later worked on an H-1B visa.

Musk and Ramaswamy’s defense of foreign worker visas has been met with strong pushback from anti-immigration supporters in Trump’s coalition. Former Trump aide Steve Bannon called H-1B visas a “fraud” on an episode of his podcast Saturday, joining a vociferous contingent of loyal Trump supporters that includes Ex. Rep. Matt Gaetz and far-right provocateur Laura Loomer.

The H-1B visa program allows 65,000 highly skilled workers to immigrate to the United States each year to fill specific jobs and provides an additional 20,000 visas to such workers who have received an advanced degree in the United States. Economists have argued that the program allows American companies to remain competitive and grow their business, creating more jobs in the United States.

Trump has previously opposed the H-1B visa program as part of his platform to encourage American companies to prioritize American labor over hiring foreign workers. During his 2016 campaign, Trump accused American companies of using H-1B visas “for the express purpose of replacing lower-wage American workers.”

In 2020, Trump limited access to H-1B visas on several occasions, part of his administration’s efforts to curb legal immigration while responding to changing economic conditions brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Trump’s comments to Musk represent another example of the president-elect getting closer to the tech mogul. On Friday, the president-elect posted on social media a private message apparently intended for Musk, asking when he plans to make another visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.