An online debate over foreign workers in the tech industry highlights tensions in Trump’s political coalition

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — An online dispute between factions of Donald Trump’s supporters over immigration and the tech industry has exposed internal divisions in his political movement and offered a glimpse of the divisions and conflicting views that his coalition represents to white people could bring house.

The rift exposed tensions between the newest flank of Trump’s movement — wealthy members of the tech world, including billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and their demands for more high-skilled workers in their industry — and people in Trump’s “Make America Great Again” base. . who campaigned for his tough immigration policy.

The debate began this week when Laura Loomer, a right-wing provocateur with a history of racist and conspiratorial statements, criticized Trump’s selection of Sriram Krishnan as an adviser on artificial intelligence policy in his incoming administration. Krishnan supports the possibility of bringing more skilled immigrants to the United States

Loomer said this stance was “not an America First policy” and said the tech executives who joined Trump were doing so to enrich themselves.

Much of the debate took place on the social media network X, which Musk owns.

Loomer’s comments sparked a back-and-forth with venture capitalist and former PayPal executive David Sacks, who Trump has described as the “White House AI and crypto czar.” Musk and Ramaswamy, whom Trump appointed to find ways to cut federal taxes The administration spoke out defending the tech industry’s need to hire foreign workers.

A larger debate developed, with more and more far-right voices speaking out about the need to hire U.S. workers, whether values ​​in American culture can produce the best engineers, free speech online and the new influence , which technology representatives have in Trump’s world and what his political movement stands for.

Trump has not yet commented on the split. His presidential transition team did not respond to questions about positions on high-skilled visas or the debate among his supporters online. Instead, his team posted a link to a post by longtime consultant and immigration hardliner Stephen Miller

Musk, the world’s richest man who has become remarkably close to the president-elect, has been a central figure in the debate, not only because of his position in Trump’s movement but also because of his stance on the tech industry’s hiring of foreign workers.

Tech companies say H-1B visas for skilled workers, used by software developers and others in the tech industry, are critical for hard-to-fill jobs. But critics say they are undercutting U.S. citizens who could take those jobs. Some on the right called for the program to be abolished rather than expanded.

South African-born Musk once held an H-1B visa himself and defended the industry’s need to hire foreign workers.

“There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent,” he said in a post. “That is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley.”

Trump’s own positions over the years reflected the divide in his movement.

His tough immigration policies, including his promise of mass deportations, were central to his victorious presidential campaign. He focused on immigrants entering the U.S. illegally, but also called for restricting legal immigration, including family-based visas.

As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump called the H-1B visa program “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers. After becoming president, Trump issued a “Buy American and Hire American” executive order in 2017 that directed Cabinet members to propose changes to ensure that H-1B visas are awarded to the highest-paid or best-qualified applicants to become American workers protect.

However, Trump’s companies have hired foreign workers, including waiters and cooks at his Mar-a-Lago club, and his social media company behind his Truth Social app took advantage of the H-1B program for highly skilled workers.

During his 2024 presidential campaign, in which he made immigration his top issue, Trump said immigrants in the country illegally were “poisoning the blood of our country” and vowed to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history.

But in a significant departure from his usual alarmist message about immigration in general, Trump said on a podcast this year that he wants to give automatic green cards to foreign students graduating from U.S. colleges.

“I think you should automatically get a green card as part of your diploma to stay in this country,” he told the “All In” podcast with people from the venture capital and tech worlds.

Those comments came on the cusp of Trump’s burgeoning alliance with tech industry figures, but he did not make the idea a permanent part of his campaign message or outline any plans to pursue such changes.