Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has heated up the H-1B visa debate by accusing Elon Musk of supporting the visa program because it provides cheaper labor instead of more skilled workers.
“The cheaper they keep labor, the more money billionaires will make,” he said.
Sanders argued, “The main function of the H-1B visa program is not to hire the ‘best and the brightest’ but to replace good-paying American jobs with low-wage indentured servants from abroad.”
Elon Musk is wrong.
The main function of the H-1B visa program is not to hire the “best and the brightest”, but to replace good-paying American jobs with low-paid indentured servants from abroad.
The cheaper labor they hire, the more money billionaires make. pic.twitter.com/Mwz7i9TcSM
– Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) 2 January 2025
Musk has disputed that foreign workers are more skilled, but Sanders challenged that claim, saying Tesla fired more than 7,500 American workers while hiring thousands of H-1B guest workers . Sanders questioned the nature of these jobs, highlighting that Tesla employed H-1B workers as associate accountants, mechanical engineers, and material planners at relatively low wages.
For the past few weeks, there has been a deep rift in the MAGA club over the H-1B visa program, with far-right political activist Laura Loomer and Trump’s one-time White House strategist Steve Bannon criticizing the program for not prioritizing American workers. Are criticizing. , Bannon even said, “Don’t come on stage in your first week here and start lecturing people about how things are going to be. If you’re going to do that, we’re I’ll scratch your face.”
However, in a recent post, Musk defended the H-1B visa program on social media, “I’m in America with so many important people who built SpaceX, Tesla, and hundreds of other companies that made America stronger. Is.” “H1B.”
“I will fight this issue in a way you can’t possibly understand,” he said.
The reason I am in America, along with so many important people who built SpaceX, Tesla, and hundreds of other companies that make America strong, is because of the H1B.
Take a big step back and land on your face. I will fight this issue like you can’t…
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) 28 December 2024
Sanders emphasized that America needs a highly skilled and well-educated workforce, but this must be achieved by hiring qualified American workers and investing in education, rather than relying on cheap labor from abroad. He stressed, “The bottom line is that it should never be cheaper for a corporation to hire a guest worker from abroad than an American employee.”
The H-1B visa program allows employers to hire foreign nationals in specialty occupations such as technology, engineering and finance. However, critics argue that the program is often used to hire cheap foreign workers rather than hire American workers.
The debate has exposed deep divisions among President-elect Donald Trump’s allies, with some supporting the H-1B visa program as necessary for the tech industry, while others see it as a threat to American jobs. Trump himself has expressed support for the program, despite previously signing an executive order to restrict access to such visas.
