The first US administration led by Donald Trump restricted the H-1B visa programme in 2020 but the upcoming government led by him might tweak the policy, thanks to his advisers Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Musk, who has hired skilled employees using H1-B programme, said there is a permanent shortage of engineering talent in the Silcon Valley. On the other hand, Ramaswamy claimed that the American culture has "venerated mediocrity over excellence" and failed to produce the best engineers.
America rose to greatness over the past 150 years, because it was a meritocracy more than anywhere else on Earth.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 28, 2024
I will fight to my last drop of blood to ensure that it remains that land of freedom and opportunity.
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 https://t.co/IYfbxzwOMm
This came after right-wing influencer Laura Loomer slammed Trump's AI policy adviser pick Sriram Krishnan who wants to remove country caps on green cards for skilled immigrants. Loomer said Krishan's nomination is "deeply disturbing."
Besides Ramaswamy and Krishnan, other Indian-Americans tapped for Trump's cabinet include Kash Patel as FBI director, Harmeet Dhillon as assistant attorney general for Civil Rights and Jay Bhattacharya as director of the National Institutes of Health.
The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over “native” Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation). A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture. Tough questions demand tough answers & if…
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 26, 2024
Loomer's comments saw sharp reactions from Indian Americans, including Joe Biden's director for the US Domestic Policy Council Neera Tanden. Pointing out that she was born in the US, she said "the Democratic Party sees me as American and a large part of the base of the Republican Party does not".
Urging Indian Americans to remember this moment in the next election, she said, "They don’t see you as one of them. And never will. You thought they just hated other immigrants. But it turns out there’s no exception for you. As many of us have been telling you."
Replying to the post, Musk called out "hateful, unrepentant racists" within the Republican Party, calling for the removal of "contemptible fools" in the GOP.
However, some users were offended by Musk's remarks and the Tesla CEO clarified that he was referring to those in the Republican Party who will be the downfall of the party if not removed.
Following this, several H1-B critics lost their verification on X over racist remarks on Indians and personal attacks on Ramaswamy. Besides Loomer, New York Young Republican Club president Gavin Wax and InfoWars host Owen Shroyer also faced limitations in their X accounts.