NEW YORK, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- As U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is about to take office in weeks, a major rift has emerged between immigration hardliners and his supporters over how much tolerance the incoming administration should have for skilled immigrants on work visas, The New York Times reported Saturday.

"The tech industry has long relied on foreign skilled workers to help run its companies, a labor supply that critics say undercuts wages for American citizens," the report said.

The dispute, which late Thursday exploded online into finger-pointing and accusations of censorship, presents a policy challenge for Trump.

Laura Loomer, a far-right activist and fervent Trump loyalist, helped set off the altercation earlier this week by criticizing Trump's selection of Sriram Krishnan, an Indian American venture capitalist, to be an adviser on artificial intelligence policy.

"It's alarming to see the number of career leftists who are now being appointed to serve in Trump's admin when they share views that are in direct opposition to Trump's America First agenda," Loomer wrote on X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk.

"Loomer's comments surfaced a simmering tension between longtime supporters of Trump, who embrace his virulent anti-immigrant rhetoric, and his more recently acquired backers from the tech industry, many of whom have built or financed businesses that rely on the government's H-1B visa program to hire skilled workers from abroad," said the report.

Musk posted regularly this week about the lack of homegrown talent to fill all the needed positions within American technology companies. The expertise needed by U.S. companies "simply does not exist in America in sufficient quantity," he posted on X. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)