Days before Donald Trump was sworn in as President of the United States, a row exploded between his tech allies and champions of his far-right MAGA (Make America Great Again) agenda over H-1B visas.

Former White House advisor Steve Bannon accused Elon Musk of trying to establish “technological feudalism on a global scale” in… New offer Against the billionaire businessman this week.

Bannon’s sharp rhetoric against the controversial visa program, which allows highly skilled technology workers to be hired from abroad, came at a time when others in Trump’s orbit, such as businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, tried to argue that American companies need trained foreign employees.

This argument has come under criticism not only from Bannon, but also from far-right Trump supporters — even as Musk and Ramaswamy, whom Trump has tasked with cutting government spending in his new administration, have softened their stance on the H-1B. Visas. In the wake of the backlash, tech moguls said the software needed to be overhauled.

But what is it about the H-1B scheme that divides Trump allies? Why is it so divisive? Has Trump’s U-turn on this issue contributed to tensions within the MAGA movement? And how will Trump manage the divide between his MAGA base and Big Tech — a sector that has traditionally leaned toward Democrats, but in recent weeks has almost completely bent over backwards to appease the next president?

Has Trump rolled back H-1B visas?

The H-1B is a temporary, non-immigrant US visa that allows companies in the United States to bring in highly skilled workers from abroad.

In 2016, Trump described the program, which was introduced in the 1990s under Republican President George H.W. Bush, as “very bad” for American workers.

Months before the end of his first term as president in 2020, Trump imposed a temporary ban on H-1B visas, which was later invalidated by a federal court.

But less than five years later, the US president-elect threw his weight behind the visa system, saying: “It’s a great program.”

“I have several H-1B visas on my property. I was an H-1B believer,” he told the New York Post.

These comments came at a time when Musk was facing opposition from MAGA supporters.

Musk played a major role in Trump’s victory as he pumped money into the presidential campaign and used X to amplify his hard-line MAGA views. This earned him Trump’s goodwill and influence.

But Trump pushed back on the idea that Musk has too much influence. “No, he’s not going to be president,” Trump made the comments during a speech in December, days after the Tesla owner led efforts to kill a spending bill in Congress.

Experts say Trump will need to manage a delicate balance between the Silicon Valley elite, which he needs for his job creation plans, and the MAGA base, from which he draws his political support.

What is the H-1B visa – and which companies benefit from it the most?

The H-1B program is the “largest temporary work visa program” in the United States, said Jane Batalova, a senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

There is an annual cap on the number of H-1B visas secured, which is capped at 65,000 H-1B visas per fiscal year. This is determined through a lottery system, which randomly selects when the number of visa applications exceeds the maximum.

The foreign worker must be working in a specialized profession with at least a bachelor’s degree. The employer sponsors foreign workers from the fields of information technology, medicine and publishing. The visa is granted for three years but can be extended to six years.

The chart is dominated by American and Indian technology companies – and a few consulting firms. Six of the scheme’s 10 largest beneficiaries in 2024 were US companies, according to the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), a nonpartisan think tank on trade and immigration: Amazon, Cognizant, IBM, Microsoft, Google and Meta. Three of them are Indian: Infosys, TCS and HCL. Capgemini, a French technology and consulting company, compiled the list.

But there is another major new beneficiary of the scheme, according to NFAP data: electric car giant Tesla. In 2024, Tesla won 742 new H-1B visas through the lottery, more than double the 328 visas it received in 2023. Additionally, Tesla won 1,025 existing H-1B visas that were extended in 2024.

“Due to data limitations, we do not have a good idea of ​​the total H-1B visa holders currently in the U.S. However, as of 2019, approximately 600,000 highly skilled immigrants worked in the U.S. economy on H-1B visas. Nearly 120,000 migrant workers will receive new H-1B visas in 2024, Batalova said.

However, MAGA supporters are not the only ones criticizing the scheme.

The H-1B program needs reform, said Ronil Hira, an associate professor in Howard University’s Department of Political Science. He said problems with the program include a poor selection process, where “eligibility standards are too low, thus overwhelming the lottery,” and “visa winners are selected by lottery rather than rational criteria.”

What is the controversy over H-1B visas?

The latest argument began when far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer criticized Trump’s choice of artificial intelligence adviser, Sriram Krishnan, who said the United States needs more skilled foreign workers to remain competitive in technology industries.

On December 28, Musk threatened to “go to war” over the issue.

“The reason I’m in America with so many important people who built SpaceX, Tesla, and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of the H-1B,” Musk wrote.

Musk was born in South Africa and previously obtained an H-1B visa before becoming a naturalized US citizen.

Ramaswamy jumped on this debate, saying that technology companies hire foreign-born employees because of the cultural difference.

“A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the Math Olympiad champion, or the runner-up over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers,” he wrote, without mentioning the H-1B visa.

But he later clarified that the H-1B system was “severely broken [and] “It should be replaced.”

Bannon, who served in Trump’s previous term, called the H-1B program a “total scam” because it allows tech companies to bring in cheap labor from abroad at the expense of American workers. He has called for the deportation of H-1B visa holders as part of broader deportation plans.

He particularly criticized Musk, saying that “the only goal of a Tesla owner is to become a trillionaire.” This is his goal.” The Italian newspaper saidCorriere della Sera, January 8

“He will do anything to make sure that any of his companies are protected or have a better deal or make more money. Amassing his wealth, and then — through wealth — power: that’s what he’s focused on. The American working class in this country will not tolerate however”.

Batalova explained that immigration has long been a controversial political area in the United States. She said that there are “two existential viewpoints competing for the hearts and minds of the American public and voters.”

One view views immigrant workers, such as those on H-1B visas, as contributors to American economic strength and global competitiveness, she explained. The other perspective views migrant workers as competitors for jobs and limited economic resources.

Batalova added that this conflict has now resurfaced, and is “fueled in large part by voter dissatisfaction with how the government has handled migration after the Covid-19 pandemic, but also debates about economic security and national competitiveness, especially with regard to China.”

“Big technology companies and business groups continue to push for expansion of the program, arguing that it is critical to maintaining America’s innovative edge. However, layoffs in the technology sector, along with instances of worker replacements at various companies, have provided ammunition for H-1B critics .

Who else criticized the H-1B?

Criticism of the H-1B visa has also come from the left.

On December 29, Democratic Representative Ro Khanna told Fox News that H-1B needs to be reformed.

“You can’t underpay these people coming in as H-1Bs,” Khanna said. “The program shouldn’t be for accountants or entry-level IT jobs. It should really be for exceptional talent. We have to have that balance.”

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders also criticized the H-1B visa program. “The main function of the H-1B visa program is not to recruit the best and brightest, but to replace good-paying American jobs with low-wage servants from abroad,” he wrote on X.

Elon Musk is wrong.

The main function of the H-1B visa program is not to recruit “the best and the brightest,” but to replace good-paying American jobs with domestic help from abroad.

The cheaper the labor they hire, the more money billionaires make. pic.twitter.com/Mwz7i9TcSM

-Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 2, 2025

Who are H-1B visa holders?

About 70% of H-1B visa recipients are from India and another 10% are from China.

As the controversy rages in the US, some technology companies have withdrawn job offers to Indian workers, according to a report in the Times of India.

But India’s Ministry of External Affairs said H-1B visas benefit both countries.

“Indo-US economic relations benefit greatly from the technical expertise provided by skilled professionals, with both sides leveraging their competitive strengths and value,” he added. We look forward to further deepening economic relations between India and the United States, which is in our mutual interest,” Randhir Jaiswal, spokesman for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, said during a press conference on January 3.

Has Trump eased up on other immigration issues?

Trump’s campaign promises during the election included a tough immigration policy. He threatened to carry out mass deportations of illegal immigrants and strengthen border security to prevent asylum seekers from entering the country.

A month after his vote, he told NBC’s Kristen Welker on an episode of Meet the Press that he plans to end birthright citizenship in the United States, a policy that has been in place for more than 150 years. This right is guaranteed in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

However, during the interview, the president-elect said he was willing to work with Democrats to maintain office “Dreamers”Undocumented people who arrived in the United States as children and have lived in the country for most of their lives.

When it comes to the H-1B visa in Trump’s second term, “no one knows what Trump will do. And he did nothing in his first term despite campaigning on reforming the program. “It was a blatant promise that wasn’t kept,” Howard University’s Hira said. “With it.”

“Republicans control Congress [both House and Senate] and the White House, so that they have the power to change the program for better or worse, or maintain the status quo. Will they exercise this power for change? “Internal political calculations will determine the direction they take.”