technology
Far-right activists clashed online with billionaire Elon Musk and other supporters of President-elect Donald Trump over the necessity for a talented immigration program that has long been a lifeblood for Silicon Valley – pointing to a possible rift between Trump's core nationalist base and of technology suggests leaders who’ve come to support him.
The dispute, which became public throughout the holiday week, may very well be a harbinger of a split inside Trump's coalition over the implementation of immigration policy, a difficulty that enlivened Trump's White House campaign.
The controversy spread to She pointed to Krishnan's previous support for lifting some caps on H-1B visas, a program that permits foreigners with technical skills to work within the United States. The policy is “in direct contradiction” to Trump’s agenda, Loomer wrote.
The criticism was met with intense tension amongst a few of Trump's closest advisers, particularly Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk. David Sacks, who will probably be the president-elect's AI and crypto czar; and Vivek Ramaswamy, who will head a commission to chop government spending. “'Normal' is not enough in a highly competitive global market for tech talent,” Ramaswamy said. “And if we act as if it is, we will get our rights from China.”
The online fight sparked a series of racist posts from Loomer through which he falsely referred to Indians as “third world invaders” with low IQs while saying he wanted a “civil war” between Trump's far-right base and the “tech bros.” who’ve come to support his upcoming government.
Notable Republicans, including former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, supported Loomer's position. “There is nothing wrong with American workers or American culture,” she said Thursday on X. “We should be investing and prioritizing Americans, not foreign workers.”
Musk, who once held an H-1B visa and has relied on this system to employ 1000’s of Tesla employees, said this system is a critical way for technology firms to recruit one of the best engineering talent to compete globally. “The number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated is far too small in the US,” Musk wrote on X at Christmas. “If you want your TEAM to win the championship, you have to recruit top talent wherever you are whatever they are.”
The online feud reflects the challenges Trump will face in holding together the fragile political coalition that won him the White House, which included unprecedented financial support from Musk and other Silicon Valley billionaires.
“It’s a sign of future conflict,” said Samuel Hammond, a senior economist on the Foundation for American Innovation. “It’s like foreplay.”
Krishnan declined to comment. Loomer and a representative from the Trump transition team didn’t reply to requests for comment. Trump traveled with Loomer throughout the campaign, but amid criticism of her past comments, he said in September he didn’t “control” her.
Trump has tried to portray himself as a champion of legal immigration, regardless that he severely restricted entry options for immigrants in his first term. Trump has offered few concrete details about how he’ll handle high-skilled immigration into the tech industry during his second term.
In a June episode of the “All In” podcast, co-hosted by Sacks, Trump said he would mechanically give a green card to each international student with a school degree.
“If you graduate or get your doctorate from a university, you should be able to stay in this country,” he said.
In the run-up to the primary Trump administration, many tech CEOs tried to construct a bridge with the president-elect throughout the transition period by meeting in his New York Trump Tower. But those delicate relations collapsed when Trump almost immediately implemented what critics and federal judges called a “Muslim ban,” barring residents of several Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.
The incident amounted to a “shock wave” within the industry, where many individuals are or know founders and employees with an immigrant background, said Hammond.
“Immigration is an economically important issue for the tech industry, but in many cases it is also a personal one,” he said. “They all understand the inefficiencies and bureaucracy surrounding the U.S. immigration system and the Kafkaesque nightmares it can cause.”
But this time the tech industry is rather more directly involved in Trump's transition. Self-proclaimed “first buddy” Elon Musk has spent much of the weeks since Election Day on the president-elect's side, and Trump has tapped many Silicon Valley investors and executives for distinguished roles in his administration.
As Silicon Valley firms compete to develop artificial intelligence products, the necessity for foreign-born talent has increased. 28 of the highest 43 AI firms within the United States were co-founded by immigrants, and 70 percent of full-time doctoral students in AI-related fields are international students, in keeping with a 2023 evaluation by the U.S. Institute of Technology National Foundation for American Politics.
While Trump expects a tricky immigration policy that features the militarized mass deportation of illegal immigrants, many within the tech industry are urging him to expand legal immigration for highly expert employees. Some argue that the change is crucial for the United States to stay competitive with China.
During his first presidency, high-skilled immigration emerged as certainly one of the most important flashpoints between Trump and Silicon Valley. Although Trump at times acknowledged the necessity for American firms to recruit top talent, his administration restricted the H-1B program. Stephen Miller, who helped craft some immigration policies throughout the first Trump administration, is returning to the White House as Trump's deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser.
The online debate resonated with lawmakers in Washington, who’ve long sought ways to enhance the H-1B program. Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat who represents Silicon Valley, defended Krishnan and said he supports reforming the H-1B program.
“We should celebrate that immigrants like Elon Musk, Jensen Huang and Sriram Krishnan choose to come to the United States,” he told The Washington Post. “This has strengthened our economic and technological supremacy. I am happy that Sriram is appointed.”
Restrictions on H-1B visas during Trump's first term faced strong opposition from major tech firms. During the pandemic, Trump temporarily froze H-1B visas, a move the federal government said would help Americans who’ve lost their jobs. That same yr, the Trump administration also introduced latest rules that tightened eligibility for H-1B visas and required firms to supply higher salaries to those on visas. A federal judge later rejected a number of the rules, including the salary regulation.
In President Joe Biden's final weeks in office, his administration rolled out rules to “modernize” the H-1B program by making it easier for international students to acquire visas and improving the efficiency of the appliance process.
“These reforms target systematic abuse by IT consulting firms while recognizing the program’s proven net positive impact on U.S. technological competitiveness,” said Divyansh Kaushik, vp at Beacon Global Strategies.
Tech firms particularly depend on H-1B visas to recruit talent, that are capped at 85,000 latest visas per yr. Amazon had probably the most latest petitions approved, with 3,871 latest H-1B employees in 2024, in keeping with Amazon Data compiled from the nonpartisan organization National Foundation for American Policy. Google had 1,058 approved applications and Tesla had 742, the information showed. (The Washington Post is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.)
Ramaswamy said in an X post on Thursday that tech firms are hiring foreign-born engineers because “for far too long American culture has revered mediocrity over excellence,” drawing criticism from notable pro-Trump figures.
Brenden Dilley, a pro-Trump podcaster, responded to Ramaswamy's post. “I always love it when these tech bros emphatically tell you that they have no understanding of American culture and then have the nerve to tell you that YOU are the problem with America,” he wrote.
Loomer, who has 1.4 million followers on (“Loomer trolls for attention. Ignore.” Musk said on X.)
Loomer said she hopes the feud with Silicon Valley will change Trump's views.
“We look forward to the inevitable divorce between President Trump and Big Tech,” she said on X. “Let's pray that this fake Big Tech 'lovefest' with Trump ends sooner rather than later.”
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