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Cracks appear in the Wizarding world over foreign worker visas


High-profile supporters of President-elect Donald Trump clashed online over a visa program aimed at bringing skilled tech workers to the United States, a preview of potential tensions in Trump’s next White House.

In a post on Thursday X, Vivek Ramaswamy, who was tapped by Trump to cut government spending, defended the H-1B visa system and criticized American parenting practices.

“Our American culture has revered mediocrity over excellence,” Ramawamy wrote in a lengthy post arguing that foreign workers improve the competitiveness of the American economy.

But the post quickly drew backlash from Trump supporters who strongly oppose any kind of immigration.

The dispute played out online over the holidays, as leading Republicans and far-right influencers joined in the criticism.

Ramaswamy’s view on skilled worker visas was supported by Elon Musk, a tech billionaire tapped to co-head Trump’s proposed “Department of Government Efficiency.”

Pointing to American culture, Ramaswamy wrote, “A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the Math Olympiad champion, or the game over the runner-up (the top student in a class), will not produce the best engineers.”

But Nikki Haley, Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations and former Republican presidential candidate, argued against the tech bosses.

“There is nothing wrong with American workers or American culture,” he wrote in response to X. “All you have to do is look across the border and see how many want what we have. We should invest and prioritize Americans, not foreign workers”.

Haley, who like Ramaswamy was born to Indian immigrants, was joined in opposing the visa program by far-right online accounts.

Laura Loomer, an anti-Islam activist who regularly spreads conspiracy theories but is also known for her unwavering support of Trump, led the charge online with posts viewed millions of times.

Earlier in the week, Loomer criticized Trump’s choice of Sriram Krishnan, an Indian-born businessman, as a senior White House adviser on artificial intelligence. Loomer wrote that Krishnan was a “career leftist” who is “in direct opposition to Trump’s America First agenda.”

Encouraged by far-right X accounts, she also called Indian immigrants “invaders” and directed racist tropes at Krishnan.

Loomer then accused Musk, who owns X, of “censorship” for allegedly restricting replies to her posts on the network and removing her from a paid premium program.

Echoing Trump’s criticism of the X boss’s influence, he wrote: “‘President Musk’ is starting to look real…Free speech is an illusion.”

Musk meanwhile defended the H-1B visa program how to attract the “top ~0.1%” of engineering talent.”

“Thinking of America as a professional sports team that has been winning for a long time and wants to keep winning is the right mental construct,” he tweeted.

But online critics posted screenshots of job postings at his companies filled by people on H1-B visas, showing salaries of $200,000 and much less, and argued that these hires did not constitute a talent pool elite but a way to withhold US wages. – born workers

The number of H-1B visas issued is limited to 65,000 per year plus an additional 20,000 for individuals with master’s degrees from US institutions.

recently Boundless researchan immigration consultancy, indicates that about 73% of H-1B visas are issued to Indian nationals, with 12% to Chinese nationals.

Trump promised that mass deportations would begin immediately after taking office. He has been a critic of the H-1B program and strengthened eligibility for that visa during his first term.

Its vice president, JD Vance, also campaigned against the program, but has close ties to the tech world. In his previous career as a venture capitalist, Vance funded startups that hired H-1B visa workers.

In recent days, the president-elect has also denied that he is unduly influenced by Musk and the other billionaires who backed his campaign.

On Sunday, Trump told a conservative conference in Arizona that he was not under Musk’s thumb.

“You know, they’re on a new kick,” he told the crowd at AmericaFest, hosted by Turning Point USA. “All the different hoaxes. The new one is that President Trump has ceded the presidency to Elon Musk.”

“No, no, that’s not happening,” he said. “He will not be president.”



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