‘I’ve been very clear that the program is broken and needs major reform,’ Musk wrote of H-1B visas.
Tesla billionaire and X owner Elon Musk appeared to soften his stance on H-1B visas on Saturday night after saying he’d “go to war” for the visas, amid an ongoing online spat over immigration and the tech industry.
Tensions erupted between wealthy members of the tech world, including Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and their call for what they describe as highly skilled workers in their industry by using H-1B visas, and Trump supporters who have long championed more stringent immigration policies to give priority to American workers.
On Saturday night, Musk responded to a thread on social media platform X that criticized how H-1B visas are being used.
Easily fixed by raising the minimum salary significantly and adding a yearly cost for maintaining the H1B, making it materially more expensive to hire from overseas than domestically.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 29, 2024
I’ve been very clear that the program is broken and needs major reform.
“Easily fixed by raising the minimum salary significantly and adding a yearly cost for maintaining the H-1B, making it materially more expensive to hire from overseas than domestically,” he wrote. “I’ve been very clear that the program is broken and needs major reform.”
Musk was responding to a remark from investor Robert Sterling, who said that “America needs to be a destination for the world’s most elite talent. But the H-1B program isn’t the way to do that.”
The H-1B visa program allows up to 65,000 highly skilled foreign workers annually, plus 20,000 foreigners who obtained an advanced degree from a U.S. institution, to fill specialized roles in the U.S. workforce.
Separately, Musk has been accused of censorship from conservatives after multiple prominent accounts that criticized his views on immigration and H-1B visas lost access to premium features.
Laura Loomer, a conservative activist and independent journalist who has long backed President-elect Donald Trump, wrote on X in multiple posts over the weekend that the social platform demonetized her account of more than 1.4 million followers. Her account appears to now lack a verified blue check mark.
It’s true. It’s self admitted retaliation against my account.
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) December 29, 2024
All I do is work hard to support President Trump and hold people accountable.
It’s unethical to keep charging me for premium while banning me from using it. It’s unethical to remove my ID verification. https://t.co/HhVoZxPNX7
Loomer said that it was because she posted comments that were critical of Musk and his allies’ views on immigration as well as H-1B visas.
“Why are X users who pay for @premium having their posts listed as ‘probable spam’ on my posts @elonmusk?” she wrote late on Saturday. “This is censorship. I understand you don’t like me, but this is nothing but retaliatory censorship?”
