The most prestigious law school admissions discussion board in the world.
|
 |
 
|
Trump defends foreign worker visas, siding with Musk amid MAGA backlash (Cnn)
| ....,.,.,.,....,.,.,,.,. | 12/28/24 |
Poast new message in this thread
Date: December 28th, 2024 7:19 PM Author: ....,.,.,.,....,.,.,,.,. President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday defended the visa program that allows highly skilled foreign workers to immigrate to the US, marking his first comments on an issue that has divided his supporters this week.
Trump said in an interview with The New York Post that he’s “a believer in H-1B,” referring to the visas granted to thousands of foreign workers who immigrate to the US to fill specialized jobs. In his first term, Trump restricted access to foreign worker visas, and he has previously criticized the program. But during the 2024 campaign, Trump signaled openness to giving some foreign-born workers legal status if they graduated from a US university.
“I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them,” Trump told The New York Post on Saturday.
Musk, who was born in South Africa and obtained Canadian citizenship through his mother, came to the US as a foreign student and later worked on an H-1B visa.
Musk and Ramaswamy’s defense of foreign worker visas has been met with strong pushback from the anti-immigration supporters in Trump’s coalition. Former Trump aide Steve Bannon called H-1B visas a “scam” on an episode of his podcast Saturday, joining a vocal contingent of loyal Trump supporters that includes former Rep. Matt Gaetz and far-right provocateur Laura Loomer.
The H-1B visa program allows 65,000 highly skilled workers to immigrate to the US each year to fill specific jobs and grants another 20,000 visas to such workers who have received an advanced degree in the US. Economists have argued the program allows US companies to maintain competitiveness and grow their business, creating more jobs in the US.
Trump has previously opposed the H-1B visa program as part of his platform to encourage US companies to prioritize American labor over hiring foreign workers. During his 2016 campaign, Trump accused US companies of using H-1B visas “for the explicit purpose of substituting for American workers at lower pay.”
In 2020, Trump restricted access to H-1B visas on several occasions, part of his administration’s effort to curb legal immigration while responding to the changing economic conditions brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Trump’s comments siding with Musk represent another instance of the president-elect growing closer to the tech mogul. On Friday, the president-elect posted on social media a private message apparently intended for Musk asking when he plans to pay another visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/28/politics/trump-musk-foreign-worker-visas-backlash/index.html
#Winning |