President-elect Donald Trump reportedly said Saturday he supports the H-1B visa program, siding with Elon Musk in a feud that has divided Trump world as some of his allies on the far-right have attacked the program in an extension of their anti-immigration stance.

Trump told the New York Post that he has “always been in favor of visas,” which allow U. S. employers to hire foreign staff on a short-term basis for jobs that require “highly specialized knowledge” and are used in the tech industry.

Trump reportedly had “a lot of H-1B visas” at his properties, calling it a “great program. “

Trump weighed in on the issue amid a deepening divide among his allies that was sparked when Trump announced Sunday he hired venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan as a senior policy adviser for artificial intelligence—Krishanan has advocated for eliminating caps on green cards and skilled immigration programs.

The clash morphed into a broader debate about the culture, race and immigration of the American workforce and escalated on Friday and Saturday, with Musk doubling down on his defense of the program, writing about despicable fools who will have to be removed from the Republican Party, at its roots. and branch. ” rod” in reaction to a post by right-wing commentator Scott Adams that “MAGA is taking cues from Democrats about how to lose elections and still feel smart about yourself. ”

Musk later clarified that he was referring to “those in the Republican Party who are hateful, unrepentant racists.”

Trump’s best friend, Steve Bannon, is also true to the theme in two of his “War Room” podcasts published on Saturday, criticizing the H-1B program and Silicon Valley and calling the visa program an “economic and monetary scam. “with “a dark foundation of hatred toward Americans. ” citizens and our beloved Republic.

Bannon said he has “full respect” for Musk, but challenged him to back up his claims that his companies depend on H1B visas by publishing data on “every engineer hired on H1B and prove Americans couldn’t fill those roles.”

“The explanation why I am in the United States with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and many other corporations that made America strong is because of H1B,” the South African-born Musk wrote on X on Saturday. a big step back and F—K YOURSELF to the front. I will wage war on such a factor that you understand.

Trump has not been as supportive of H-1B visas as he claimed to the New York Post. During his 2016 campaign, he called the program “very bad” and “unfair” to American personnel and greater restrictions on H-1B programs as president. The Biden administration earlier this month issued a new rule aimed at making the program more available to employers by simplifying the application procedure and giving employers more freedom to determine eligibility.

In addition to Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy and venture capitalist David Sacks also defended Krishnan and the H-1B program opposed to the attacks through far-right Trump supporter Laura Loomer. She called Krishnan’s hiring “deeply troubling. ” ” and said that “allowing executives from major tech corporations into Mar-A-Lago would be the death of our country. ” Wouldn’t it? Trump sided with Musk on Saturday as the two deepened their alliance. Politicians and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have watched what they say is Musk’s influence developing over the new Trump administration, leading some of Trump’s critics to attack him by suggesting that Musk is some kind of shadow president. Earlier this month, Musk killed the Republican government’s initial spending plan when he criticized the bill in a series of tweets, leading Trump to echo Musk’s considerations hours after and send Republicans back to the drawing board. Trump hired Musk and Ramaswamy to run a new Department of Government Effectiveness, and Musk became the biggest donor of the 2024 election cycle, giving more than $250 million to help elect Trump, who rejected Trump’s jabs at “President Musk. “

In addition to generating H-1B corporations to hire engineers and other similar jobs, the program is used in a wide variety of industries, including architecture, medicine, education, business, law, theology and the arts. The United States issues 65,000 visas each year, plus 20,000 more to employees with a master’s degree or higher from a U. S. university. More than 700,000 people held H-1B visas in 2023, according to the American Immigration Council. They are valid for 3 years and can be extended for up to six years.

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