2mo ago

Trump sides with Musk on support for H-1B visas for foreign tech workers

www.theguardian.com Trump sides with Musk on support for H-1B visas for foreign tech workers

Remarks follow social media posts from Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who vowed to go to ‘war’ to defend program

Summary

Donald Trump publicly supported Elon Musk’s defense of the H-1B visa program for skilled foreign tech workers, despite opposition from some of his far-right supporters.

The debate was reignited after Trump appointed Indian-American AI expert Sriram Krishnan as an adviser, sparking criticism from immigration hard-liners.

Musk, a former H-1B holder, argued the program is essential for U.S. tech, while critics like Steve Bannon claim it undercuts American wages.

This stance marks a shift from Trump’s earlier policies limiting H-1B visas, highlighting tensions within his base over immigration policy.

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39 comments

Aside from the fact this is coming from Musk and Trump.
What do y'all think about this policy?
- I think they are trying to flood the market with cheaper foreign workers that business owners have more control over so they can lower the wages of everyone else. More Americans will be out of work as they are replace by H1Bs. They'll have to accept lower pay and less benefits to continue in tech or switch careers which is hard. The H1Bs will eventually be hated especially among MAGA and it won't be their fault as they are just pawns in this Lex Luther wannabe's world view. The quality of software will drop because you get what you pay for. Maybe Trump or Musk will do something stupid and piss off India (maybe a tariff or trade war) and I assume the Indians worldwide will side with India mostly which can lead to more compromises in our critical software.
  So I think it will be like when manufacturing jobs were shipped to China and look how that turned out for American workers, goods, and security.
  
  Maybe. They're supposed to show that they can't find a domestic worker to do the same job, regardless of pay. I don't know how often that's audited, though.
  
  They're supposed to show that they can't find a domestic worker to do the same job, regardless of pay
  Do you really expect that requirement to remain under the Musk/Trump (mis)administration?
  
  Yeah that's what/how this is supposed to be used. So I don't know if that's a bad thing. But as others pointed out, it's probably going to be exploited.
  I know in Canada the similar program, the temporary foreign workers program, is being exploited to bring in low wage workers for fast food chains for example, as well as tech workers. It's absolutely ridiculous how is being exploited. And this is Canada!
- Tech has always preferred H1B workers, since they can't simply leave the job they were hired for and are effectively in indentured servitude.
- The H1B system is very flawed, but cutting them down is not the answer. Now I don't trust the Trump administration to take productive steps towards fixing the system, and it'll probably be heavily abused but at least it's not ceding ground to MAGA.

39 comments