Cracks appear in Maga world over foreign worker visas

Prominent supporters of President-elect Donald Trump have clashed online over a visa program aimed at bringing tech professionals to the US – a foreshadowing of the coming tensions in the Trump White House.

In a post on X Thursday, Vivek Ramaswamy, who was appointed by Trump to reduce government spending, he defended the H-1B visa system and criticized America’s adoption practices.

“Our American culture values ​​high achievers,” Ramawamy wrote in a lengthy essay on how foreign workers contribute to the competitiveness of the US economy.

But the post quickly gained traction with Trump supporters who are fiercely opposed to immigration of any kind.

The row played out online over the holidays, as prominent Republicans and right-wing activists joined in the protest.

Ramaswamy’s proposal for skilled worker visas was supported by Elon Musk, the tech billionaire appointed to co-head Trump’s “Department of Labor.”

Reflecting on American culture, Ramaswamy wrote: “A culture that celebrates the winning queen of the math olympiad, or jokes about the winner.” [the top student in a class]it’s not going to produce the best engineers.”

But Nikki Haley, Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations and a former Republican leader, clashed with tech bosses.

“There is nothing wrong with American workers or American culture,” he wrote in response to X. All you have to do is look across the border and see how many want what we have. We need to invest and put Americans first, not foreign workers.”

Haley, who like Ramaswamy was born in India of Indian origin, joined them in opposing the visa program and right-wing accounts on the Internet.

Laura Loomer, an anti-Islamist who regularly spreads conspiracy theories but is also known for her staunch support for Trump, led the charge online with posts that have been viewed by millions.

Earlier in the week, Loomer criticized Trump’s selection of Sriram Krishnan, an Indian-born businessman, as the White House’s top adviser on manufacturing intelligence. Loomer wrote that Krishnan was a “leftist” who is “directly opposed to Trump’s America First agenda”.

Excited by X’s right-wing accounts, he also called people from India “invaders” and directed violence at Krishnan.

Loomer then accused Musk, who owns X, of “investigation” for blocking him from responding to his online posts and removing him from the paid program.

Echoing Trump’s criticism of X’s boss’s influence, he wrote: “‘President Musk’ is starting to look like the real thing…Free speech is a sham.”

Musk immediately defended the H-1B visa program as attracting the “top ~0.1%” of technical talent”.

“Thinking of America as a sports team that has been winning for a long time and wants to continue winning is building the right mindset,” he tweeted.

But online critics posted photos showing jobs at his companies filled with people on H1-B visas, showing salaries of $200,000 and less, and said that this did not create top talent but a way to lower US wages. -born workers.

The number of H-1B visas issued is 65,000 per year including an additional 20,000 for people with master’s degrees from US institutions.

Recently Boundless surveyimmigration expert, shows that about 73% of H-1B visas are issued to Indian nationals, and 12% are issued to Chinese nationals.

Trump has promised to begin mass deportations of undocumented immigrants as soon as he takes office. He has been opposing the H-1B program and strengthening the visa eligibility during his first term.

His vice president, JD Vance, also campaigned against the program, but he has close ties to the tech world. In his previous career as a venture capitalist, Vance supported startups that hired workers on H-1B visas.

In recent days, the president-elect has also denied being pressured by Musk and other billionaires who have backed his campaign.

On Sunday, Trump told a rally in Arizona that he was not under Musk’s thumb.

“You know, they’re on a new game,” he told the crowd at AmericaFest, organized by Turning Point USA. “All different lies. The latest is that President Trump gave the presidency to Elon Musk.”

“No, no, it’s not happening,” he said. “He’s not going to be president.”