On Saturday, President-elect Donald Trump defended the visa program that allows highly skilled foreign workers to immigrate to the United States, making his first comments on an issue that has divided his supporters this week.
In an interview with The New York Post, Trump stated that he is “a believer in H-1B,” which refers to visas granted to thousands of foreign workers who immigrate to the United States to fill specialized jobs.
During his first term, Trump limited access to foreign worker visas and has previously criticized the program. However, during the 2024 campaign, Trump expressed willingness to grant some foreign-born workers legal status if they graduated from a US university.
“I’ve always liked visas. I’ve always supported visas. “That is why we have them,” Trump told The New York Post on Saturday.
“I have multiple H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve long believed in H-1B. I’ve used it several times. “It’s an excellent program,” he added.
Trump’s comments are the first time he has spoken out on the issue since entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, whom Trump has appointed to lead the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, defended the foreign worker visa program, eliciting sharp criticism from MAGA supporters hoping to limit immigration.
Throughout the week, Musk has passionately defended H-1B visas in social media posts, arguing for their importance in allowing tech companies, including his own, to grow. Musk said in a post on Friday that he will “go to war” to protect H-1B visas.
“The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B,” the Silicon Valley billionaire wrote. “I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend.”
Musk, who was born in South Africa and holds Canadian citizenship through his mother, came to the United States as a foreign student and later worked on an H-1B visa.
Musk and Ramaswamy’s support for foreign worker visas has sparked strong opposition from Trump’s anti-immigrant coalition.
Former Trump aide Steve Bannon called H-1B visas a “scam” on his podcast Saturday, joining a vocal group of Trump supporters including former Rep. Matt Gaetz and far-right provocateur Laura Loomer.
The H-1B visa program allows 65,000 highly skilled workers to immigrate to the United States each year to fill specific jobs, with an additional 20,000 visas granted to such workers who have earned an advanced degree in the United States.
Economists argue that the program allows US companies to remain competitive and grow their businesses, thereby creating more jobs in the United States.
Trump has previously opposed the H-1B visa program as part of his campaign to encourage US companies to hire American workers over foreign workers.
During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump accused US companies of using H-1B visas “for the explicit purpose of substituting for American workers at lower pay.”
In 2020, Trump restricted access to H-1B visas on several occasions as part of his administration’s effort to reduce legal immigration while responding to the changing economic conditions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Trump’s comments supporting Musk are yet another example of the president-elect becoming closer to the tech mogul. On Friday, the president-elect sent Musk a private message on social media, asking when he plans to return to Trump’s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago.
