MAGA Fractures Over H1B Visa as Trump Favors Musk Over Miller
“And I’m not just talking about engineers. I’m talking about people at all levels. We want competent people coming into our country,” said Trump on Wednesday.
Good afternoon! I wrote a story with
for about the war in the new White House over the future of the H1B program. It’s a fight that pits two of Donald Trump’s closest advisors—Stephen Miller and Elon Musk— against each other (excerpt below; full article here) —Migrant Insider is sponsored by
WASHINGTON—A new fault line within the MAGA movement is deepening as the debate over H1B visas pits Elon Musk and Stephen Miller—two of President Donald Trump’s closest advisors—against each other.
On his first day back in the White House, Trump followed through on his campaign promises by signing sweeping executive orders to reverse Joe Biden’s migrant relief policies, expand immigration enforcement, and drastically cut legal immigration. Yet, one program remained untouched: the H1B visa, a staple of America’s high-skilled labor force.
"We need smart people coming into our country. We need a lot of people coming in. We're going to have jobs like we've never had before,” Trump said last month at Mar-a-Lago, leaving some of his staunchest MAGA supporters stunned.
“It’s a firefight,” said a source close to Stephen Miller, who lamented the enormous resources the tech industry spends on Washington lobbying. “Tech is terrible at lobbying but they hire every firm in town,” said the source. “All the firms are on retainer for tech. They’re all conflicted out.”
“It’s very simple: shut the fucking program down today, deport all of them, and give every single fucking job to American citizens,” Steve Bannon, Trump’s former strategist and Stephen Miller confidante, told me in an interview on Wednesday.
The H1B visa program, created in 1990, allows U.S. companies to sponsor foreign workers in specialized fields, ranging from IT and engineering to medicine and finance. The program caps annual visas at 65,000, with an additional 20,000 reserved for advanced degree holders from U.S. universities. While it offers a pathway to citizenship, critics like Miller and Bannon argue the program undermines American workers.
On Wednesday, Trump doubled down during a press conference in the Roosevelt Room, saying, “I like both sides of the argument, but I also like very competent people coming into our country — even if that involves training and helping other people that may not have the qualifications that they have. And I’m not just talking about engineers. I’m talking about people at all levels. We want competent people coming into our country.”
