Trump backs Elon Musk in support of H-1B visas for foreign tech workers

Trump  backs Elon Musk  in support  of H-1B visas for foreign tech  workers.

The comments follow social media posts from  the Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who vowed to  "fight" to  protect the program.
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On Saturday, Donald Trump sided with Elon Musk, a key supporter and billionaire tech CEO, in a public  spat over the use of the H-1B visa, saying he fully  supports the foreign tech  worker program, which some of his  supporters oppose. .
Trump's remarks  follow a series of social media posts from  Elon Musk, the Tesla and  SpaceX CEO, who vowed  on Friday  night to  "fight" to  protect the visa program for foreign tech  workers.
Trump, who  tried to limit  visa use during his first  term, told the New York Post on Saturday  that he  still favors the visa  program.
"I have  a lot of H-1B visas on my properties.  I'm a  fan of H-1B.  "I've used it many times.  It's a  wonderful program," he was quoted as  saying.
Musk, a naturalized  American citizen born in South Africa, has  been granted an H-1B visa, and his  electric car company Tesla  has been granted 724  such visas this year. H-1B visas typically  last three years, although holders can extend them or apply for  a green  card.
The dispute was  sparked earlier this week by far-right activists who criticized  Trump's selection of Sriram Krishnan, an  Indian-American venture capitalist,  as an artificial  intelligence adviser, saying he would influence  policies of immigration. Elon Musk's tweet was  aimed at  Trump supporters and immigration  extremists, who  are increasingly  calling for  the cancellation of the H-1B visa program amid a heated debate over immigration and the place  that skilled immigrants and foreign workers  bring to the country on work  visas.
On Friday, Steve Bannon, a Trump  confidant, criticized "big tech  oligarchs" for  their support of the H-1B program and  called immigration a threat to  Western civilization.
In response, Musk and  several other tech billionaires drew a line between what they  consider legal immigration and illegal  immigration.
Musk vs. Musk: Trump camp  split in bitter fight over immigration policy
Trump has  vowed to deport all immigrants who are in the  United States illegally,  impose tariffs to help create more jobs for American citizens and severely  limit immigration.
The visa issue highlights how tech leaders like Musk  — who  played a key role in the presidential transition, advising on key personnel and  policies — are now drawing  the attention of their base. The U.S. tech industry relies on the government's H-1B visa program to hire  skilled foreign workers to help run  their companies, a  workforce that critics say undercuts  the wages  of American  citizens.
Elon Musk spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars  to help Trump get elected in November. He has  been regularly  publishing articles this week about the lack of  local talent to fill all the  gaps

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