Tesla CEO Musk (right) and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy (left) carry his son on his shoulders after meeting with businessman Vivek Ramaswamy (left) at the U.S. Capitol. .
Anna Money Tree | Getty Images
Two of President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming advisers have sparked a multi-day firestorm over comments they made about the H-1B temporary worker visa, a special treatment for high-skilled workers. , some in the MAGA world say these visas are taking jobs away from Americans.
The fight began brewing just before Christmas after Trump appointed venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan to a top artificial intelligence policy post, sparking a racially charged backlash against Krishnan. Words emerge. Comments advocate for green card For skilled workers.
On Thursday, when Vivek Ramaswamy In X’s postCriticizes American culture for “valuing mediocrity over excellence” and attributes this to the influx of foreign tech workers. Ramaswamy, who are indian americanswent on to say that he hopes Trump’s presidency will create an American culture that prioritizes “hard work over laziness.” Tech executives are calling for expanded use of widely used immigrant visas, arguing they are needed to fill high-skilled tech and other professional positions.
Trump adviser Elon Musk (who Ramaswamy co-heads Trump’s incoming Department of Government Effectiveness) posted on Super motivated. Musk, who was born in South Africa and is a naturalized U.S. citizen, urged people to “think about this like a professional sports team: If you want your team to win championships, you need to recruit top talent everywhere.” This enables the entire team to win.
The posts sparked a backlash from passionate Make America Great Again supporters who want a tough stance on all forms of immigration and exposed a right-wing factional relationship between Trump and some of his closest allies and tech industry advisers. Relationship disagreements.
“If we’re going to give up, let’s give up now,” Steve Bannon said on his “War Room” show Friday morning, calling many of the arguments in favor of the H-1B “complete and utter nonsense.” scam”.
The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
conservative commentator Mike Cernovich replied to Ramaswamy’s postwrote, “The Woodstock generation successfully built aerospace, and America did well before landing on the moon. Behind your post is the squalor we all lived in until saved by the H-1B .
Some are trying to broker deals with venture capitalists between the factions Sean Maguire defends Krishnan and writes “The tech community should also hear MAGA’s argument” that immigrants “should be skilled and consistent with American values” and fully assimilate.
Later, Cernovich shared an article about Ramaswamy from the campaign trail more than a year ago Promise to “destroy” the H-1B system If he is elected. Ramaswamy retweeted this.
The backlash sparked a broader discussion among New York Times columnists about how to revive lagging American industries Ross Douthat responds The rebirth of at least one “languishing” American industry “seems highly unlikely to emerge from a testing-oriented, drudgery-no-sleep-or-mall-hopping mentality.” Retweeted Ramaswamy earlier, Duthat advises Trump’s new adviser Misidentified causes and misassessed America’s cultural priorities and strengths.
Amid controversy over high-skilled immigration in Trumpworld, the Biden administration released a document in its final days new regulations “Modernizing” the H-1B program, which will take effect on January 17, just three days before Trump takes office.
Trump promises to sign deportation orders on his first day in office, latest sign of incoming administration’s focus on immigration, his ‘border czar’ Tom Homan told NBC on Thursday “Home detention, if we bring it back, it’s like, it’s on the table. We’re not done planning yet.”
About The Author
