Days after Elon Musk defended the H-1B visa, he changed his tune, calling the program “broken” and calling for major reforms, including higher salaries and additional costs to make hiring overseas workers more expensive. What’s the change in Musk’s position driven by? Is it MAGA-fueled scepticism, economic pragmatism, or concerns over US companies exploiting the visa program?
Now that MAGA tech-bros have squared off against the MAGA right in a heated brawl over H-1B visas and skilled immigration, it’s only apt that President-elect Donald Trump’s ally Elon Musk has shifted his stance on the issue with dexterity.
Days after Tesla, X and SpaceX boss Musk said he “will go to war” backing the H-1B visa and asked right-wingers to “take a big step back”, he mellowed down, saying the H-1B “program is broken and needs major reform”. He also called for “raising the minimum salary significantly and adding a yearly cost for maintaining the H-1B, making it materially more expensive to hire from overseas than domestically”.
What inspired Musk to change his position to become an H-1B visa program defender? Was it a knee-jerk reaction to MAGA-fueled scepticism, a nod to economic pragmatism, or a consequence of realizing how US companies used the program being besieged?
As Donald Trump was set to assume office, the MAGA force included fierce debates over skilled-worker immigration even while his poll rhetoric hit people at the opposite end of the spectrum concerning low-skilled and illegal immigration.
