President-elect Donald Trump has defended the United States’ H-1B visa program, doubling back on his previous hardline stance on immigration and angering his MAGA base.
Big business backers winning out
The backdown no doubt has a lot to do with his alignment with big business, which directly reaps the benefits of the program.
The H-1B visa program grants 65,000 visas annually to highly skilled workers, with an additional 20,000 allocated to those holding advanced degrees from US institutions.
Proponents argue the program boosts economic competitiveness and job creation, while critics – including Trump advisors such as Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller – claim it undercuts wages for American workers.
Speaking to The New York Post on Saturday, Trump described himself as ‘a believer’ in the program, saying he approved of its role in attracting highly skilled foreign workers to the US.
“I’ve always liked the visas; I have always been in favour of the visas. That’s why we have them,” Trump said, claiming that many of his own businesses have relied on H-1B visas to hire specialised talent.
Trump’s remarks follow a heated debate sparked by Trump’s billionaire backers Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, whom Trump has tapped to lead a proposed new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. The pair's remarks have inadvertently wedged Trump on immigration.
Immigrants bring global talent - Musk
Musk and Ramaswamy, who have long relied on competitive (cheap) foreign labour for their many businesses, have publicly championed the H-1B program, with Ramaswamy drawing ire with his contention that nerdy foreigners have built the tech industry because Americans don’t have the mindset required.
Musk also defended the program on social media, saying it enables US tech companies, including his own, to recruit top global talent – and in the process reminding people that he himself is an immigrant.
“The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H-1B,” Musk wrote, using an expletive before continuing: “I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend.”
This is not what Trump’s base voted for. Trump ran on a platform of hardline anti-immigration and domestic job creation, as part of his ‘America First’ agenda.
Former Trump aide Steve Bannon and far-right Trump mouthpieces such as Laura Loomer have called the H-1B program a ‘scam’ that prioritises foreign workers over American labour.
How will Trump spin this?
Of course, in the lead-up to the election, Trump talked a big game with his opposition to the program.
He also restricted access to it during his first term and criticised companies for using it to replace American workers at lower pay.
With the emergence of key big business backers during the 2024 campaign, however, it’s clear he will have to pivot. Immigrant labour is their bread and butter.
Trump has since signalled openness to granting legal status to foreign graduates of US universities.
It’s unclear how he plans to sell this newly open-border approach to his base but like his conflicted stance on abortion – where he was able to signal to his voters that he would be hardline, while simultaneously convincing independent voters that he would not be a purist on the issue – Trump will somehow find a way to argue apples to one group and pears to the other.