How Immigration Split MAGA

The Fight Over H1B Visas

I have a poignant question for you: Do we need more Indians?

It’s a question that’s been tormenting me recently. While others celebrated the New Year, I sat quietly, pondering it. After all, if it’s Indians who make America hum, wouldn’t we want more of them?

This was also the crux of a heated debate on X (formerly Twitter) during the holidays and into the New Year, with some of MAGA's biggest names clashing over the central question: Should the H-1B visa program be expanded to help America “recruit the best talent in the world” and strengthen its economy?

In one corner, you had Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the tech bros of MAGA’s Silicon Valley squad, responding with a resounding yes. In the other, Steve Bannon, Laura Loomer, and many of Musk's usual supporters on X firmly disagreed, arguing that expanding the program would hurt American workers and undermine national identity.

What should have been a respectful dialogue quickly devolved into ad-hominem attacks, name-calling, and even threats.

Vivek Ramaswamy struck first with a Twitter thread—a bit of a "mask-off" moment—basically saying American culture is weak, lazy, and bad.

He had more to say and was right in some ways, wrong in others, but his whole tirade definitely rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.

Then Elon Musk stepped into the fray, declaring, “We need a higher H-1B cap. We need more H-1Bs.” But when his usual crowd of yes-men (this time unexpectedly) pushed back, Musk lashed out, telling critics to “take a big step back and [expletive] yourself in the face.”

Things went downhill from there. As more and more people disagreed with him, Musk began revoking their verification badges and demonetizing them. Laura Loomer, who also clashed with Musk, had her account suspended (though it was later unbanned).

If I’m being honest, this, too, was a “mask off” moment for Musk, clearly undercutting his “free speech absolutist” image.

Bannon, meanwhile, came out swinging, threatening Musk: “We’re going to rip your face off in a visa fight.”

Now, many people were surprised that immigration—a defining issue of the Trump era—ended up being the first major fault line in MAGA before his second term even started… much to the joy of the Democrats, of course.

That said, this fight isn’t new. It’s been a longstanding divide within the Republican coalition, going back decades. Republican candidates have always had to juggle between the pro-business Chamber of Commerce crowd and the populist, right-wing base. What is new, though, is the stance of the President-elect.

A Tale of Two Trumps

In his 2016 campaign, Donald J. Trump ran on “Buy American, Hire American,” even suspending H-1B visas during his presidency.

Donald J. Trump: Nobody knows the system better than me. I know the H-1B very well. It’s something I use, but we shouldn’t have it. It’s very, very bad for workers.”

But now, in 2025, his stance seems to have flipped. Trump said:

I have many H-1B visas on my properties, and I support Elon Musk. I’ve always liked the visas. I’ve always been a believer in H-1B. It’s a great program.

This contradiction left many scratching their heads, including me. So, to figure out which Trump—2016 or the current one—might be right, I decided to dig into the issue with an open mind.

And as with most things, it helps to ask a simple question: cui bono—who benefits? As it happens, the next chart has the answer. Take a look.

Now, I opened this piece by mentioning Indians... That was not out of any ill intent, but simply because they represent about 70% of all H-1B visa holders.

The reality of the H-1B visa program, however—whether you’re Indian or not—is that it’s not really about attracting the best and brightest. It’s about U.S. companies wanting to save money and pay less.

Gaming the System

And they go to extreme lengths to do it. Take Alphabet (GOOGL)—better known as Google—for example. To game the H-1B lottery and boost their chances, they create hundreds of shell companies, all applying for the same person. This pushes out smaller companies that can’t afford to play the same game.

It’s not just Big Tech, though. Look at Disney (DIS). They famously laid off much of their accounting department, replaced them with H-1B workers paid the bare minimum, and even made the fired employees train their replacements to get severance pay.

You can see why big public corporations are so fond of this program. Bring in workers on H-1B visas, spend less on head count, and suddenly your company’s bottom line looks better. That’s assuming the work still adds value, of course.

And then there’s another reason…

H-1B visa holders have to stay at their jobs to remain in the U.S. If they leave, they only get two months to find a new one or risk deportation. You can imagine why big companies love this—it gives them a lot of control.

These are just a few examples. The point is, after poring over the data on the H-1B program, it’s clear the system is being exploited. So, from where I stand, the framing pushed by the “Silicon Valley MAGA” crowd feels pretty disingenuous.

Now, I get why Vivek, with his Indian background, and Elon, who got his start in the U.S. on an H-1B, would defend it. But that doesn’t make it right. And honestly, while I still like both of them, their messaging to Americans on this issue left a lot to be desired.

Finally, if this is really about bringing in “the world’s best and brightest,” there’s already a visa for that—the O-1 visa. It’s meant for people with extraordinary talent or achievements, like groundbreaking inventors, top-tier professionals, or world-class athletes.

And maybe—and I know I’m walking a fine line here—the answer to America’s problems isn’t to bring in millions of workers from abroad. Maybe it’s about training a group of people who’ve been left behind by DEI over the last decade. I’ll let you figure out for yourself who that might be.

Regards,

Lau Vegys