U.S. President-elect Donald Trump delivers remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., December 16, 2024.
Brian Snyder | Reuters
President-elect Donald Trump weighed in on a simmering feud among MAGA allies over H-1B worker visas, telling the New York Post that he supports the program, according to the outlet.
Trump told the New York Post that he has “always liked the visas.” The H-1B visa program allows employers to temporarily hire non-U.S. citizens for highly skilled jobs.
“I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program,” he said, according to the outlet’s report.
A spokesperson for the Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
During his first term, the Trump administration implemented rules that would have cut the number of H-1B visas issued each year. The rules, however, were ultimately struck down in court.
In recent days, MAGA world has been embroiled in a debate over the program, with one faction defending the visas and another faction arguing that the program allows foreigners to take American jobs.
Trump allies, including Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, argued in online posts that the visa program benefits the country.
Musk said in a post this week that “the number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low.”
Musk, who was born in South Africa and is a naturalized U.S. citizen, said that the reason he and others who built SpaceX and Tesla are in the U.S. is because of the H-1B program.
“Take a big step back and F— YOURSELF in the face,” he said in a post. “I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend.”
Musk said in a post to X that “those contemptible fools must be removed from the Republican Party,” later clarifying that he was referring to “those in the Republican Party who are hateful, unrepentant racists.”
Musk’s posts came in reply to a post from Scott Adams, the creator of the “Dilbert” comic, who said, “MAGA is taking a page from Democrats on how to lose elections while feeling good about themselves.”
Separately, Ramaswamy, who is partnering with Musk to lead Trump’s nongovernmental Department of Government Efficiency, argued in a post to X that he hopes American culture again prioritizes “hard work over laziness.”
Ramaswamy also said in a post to X on Friday that the H-1B visa program “is badly broken & should be replaced with one that focuses on selecting the very best of the best (not a lottery), pro-competitive (no indentured service to one company), and de-bureaucratized.”
Republicans who criticized H-1B visas included far-right activists Laura Loomer and Steve Bannon. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley also weighed in, calling it “lazy” for the “tech industry to automatically go to foreign workers for their needs.”
“Invest in our American workforce,” she said in a post to X on Friday. “We must invest in Americans first before looking elsewhere.”
Musk also faced accusations of censoring critics after more than a dozen conservatives, including Loomer, said their blue badge verification on X had been revoked after they criticized Musk over his views on immigration.