Between Elon Musk and other pro-Trump people, immigration becomes a primary subject of division

INTERNATIONAL – Cracks in the coalition. Donald Trump is not yet in the White House when certain dissensions are already arising within his coalition, between his supporters from tech like Elon Musk and certain conservative figures with ardently anti-immigration positions. At the center of the debate: the question of H1-B visas.

These H1-B visas allow companies to bring foreign workers with specific qualifications to the United States. Elon Musk, a native of South Africa and former holder of this visa, strongly supports the importance of skilled foreign labor through this system.

The richest man in the world, who has become a close ally and financial supporter of Donald Trump (to the point of being named minister in the future administration), affirmed Thursday on his X platform that“bringing the top 0.1% of engineering talent through legal immigration is essential for America to keep winning” on the international scene.

Billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy, appointed by Donald Trump alongside Elon Musk, also defended the use of foreign workers. “Our American culture has worshiped mediocrity over excellence for far too longslammed the businessman on X. A culture that celebrates the high school prom queen rather than the math Olympiad champion, or the athlete rather than the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers. »

Without radical change, We are going to get our ass kicked by China”said the former candidate in the Republican primaries for the presidential election. These statements made some conservative figures jump, accusing the two billionaires of minimizing the technological achievements made in the United States.

Immigration in Donald Trump’s program

Ultraconservative Stephen Miller, Donald Trump’s next deputy chief of staff at the White House, posted on X a 2020 speech by the Republican leader in which he marvels at the “ culture » American who has “ mastered electricity, split the atom, gave the world the telephone and the internet”.

A way for this influential advisor to recall that Donald Trump was once again elected with a primarily anti-immigration program and that, according to him, qualified foreign labor is not necessary for the United States to accomplish great things. things.

During his first campaign for the White House in 2016, Donald Trump expressed his opposition to H1-B visas, and had put in place certain restrictions on these visas when he came to power, before they were lifted by the Biden administration.

Trump remains silent in the face of debates

Furthermore, following these heated exchanges, several conservative figures in the Trump coalition reported that their accounts on X had been restricted or affected without a clear explanation, reports Sky News. Elon Musk, boss of the platform, was accused of interfering with freedom of expression and favoring certain opinions.

On the other hand, in the eyes of longtime MAGA movement devotees, Silicon Valley has already inserted itself too deeply into Trumpist circles. When Elon Musk almost single-handedly torpedoed, before Christmas, a budget agreement in Congress aimed at avoiding a paralysis of the federal state, some Democrats joked about a “ President Musk »with which Donald Trump would ultimately be reduced to the role of spectator.

The future American president has remained silent for the moment on this debate which is agitating conservative circles. But taking a position would provide clues about his way of governing during his second term. And which side he intends to rely on the most.

It also remains to be seen whether after these first cracks in the veneer, the coalition led by Donald Trump will manage to maintain a certain cohesion once in power. “I look forward to the inevitable divorce between President Trump and Big Tech”launched conservative influencer Laura Loomer on X on Friday.

Also see on HuffPost :