Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who will soon head President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, have repeatedly demonized undocumented immigrants. In recent days, though, Musk and Ramaswamy have both argued Big Tech firms desperately need foreign workers — generating controversy among the MAGA base. 

Both Musk and Ramaswamy appeared to be expressing support for H-1B visas for high-skilled workers. These visas have often been criticized by the left and right for allowing companies to rely on cheaper foreign labor. Companies also maintain significant control over such workers; it’s difficult for them to switch jobs, and if they lose their jobs, they can be forced to leave the country.  

Musk took to his social media site, X, on Wednesday to argue that Silicon Valley firms need foreign workers because there aren’t enough “super motivated” and “super talented engineers” in America. His statements quickly drew criticism from conservatives who support Trump’s draconian immigration policies.

“The number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low,” Musk wrote. “Think of this like a pro sports team: if you want your TEAM to win the championship, you need to recruit top talent wherever they may be. That enables the whole TEAM to win.” 

The comments incensed Trump ally Laura Loomer, who wrote that Musk only “bought [his] way into MAGA 5 minutes ago.” She said Musk and his “Big Tech buddies” are trying to “infiltrate” the Trump White House despite opposing “MAGA immigration policy.” Loomer added: “You’re still not our President. The real President knows H1B visas are bad for America and the real President is from this country.” (Two of Trump’s three wives were born outside of the U.S., and his firms have used H1-B visas in the past.) 

One X user wrote to Musk: “There are over 330 million people in America. Surely, there must be enough among them to build your ultimate team? Why would you deny real Americans that opportunity by bringing foreigners here?” Another user replied to him, before their account was suspended: “My son graduated with honors with electrical and computer engineering degrees in 2023. He can not get an interview, let alone a job.”

Ramaswamy further argued on Thursday that tech firms need foreign workers because Americans don’t have a good enough work ethic — blaming the culture.  

“The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over ‘native’ Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation). A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture,” wrote Ramaswamy. 

He continued: “A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers.” Trump’s presidency, he hopes, will mark an end to American culture valorizing “hard work over laziness.”

Right-wing commentator Mike Cernovich replied to Ramaswamy, “The Woodstock generation managed to build out aerospace, the one before went to the moon, America was doing great. Underlying your post is that we were all living in squalor until being rescued by H-1B’s. Then why did everyone want to come here?”

Musk himself is an immigrant, as Trump recently noted. In October, The Washington Post reported that Musk, who was born in South Africa, worked illegally in the U.S. at the beginning of his career. While he was working to build his company Zip2, he reportedly did not have a visa. He came to the U.S. in 1995 for a graduate program at Stanford University, but he never enrolled in classes.

Speaking about Musk and his brother, Kimball, Derek Proudian — a former Zip2 board member and investor who became its CEO — told the Post, “Their immigration status was not what it should be for them to be legally employed running a company in the U.S.” 

When Musk was asked at one of his Super PAC’s town hall events about his own experience in the immigration system, the world’s richest man dodged the question. He used a similar sports analogy: “You know, it’s like, I mean, it’s like, if, like, if you have the opportunity to say, have like, you know, LeBron James or Steph Curry on your team, you’d be like, ‘Yeah, that would make total sense,” he said. 

“It is easier to get into this country as a murderer than as a Nobel Laureate,” he added.

Musk added that the fast-food chain Chick-fil-A should manage America’s borders, because “they are so efficient” and “the chicken sandwiches are epic.”