The angry debate over US visas and foreign workers that erupted over the holidays has exposed splits within Donald Trump’s Maga supporters on immigration policy.

The fiery words exchanged between two Trump factions over H-1B visas, which allow immigrants to work in the US based on speciality talents or skills, may just be the opening salvos of a broader war for influence at Trump’s base in Mar-a-Lago.

On the one hand, tech mogul, immigrant, and Trump’s (for now) right-hand man Elon Musk declared his strong support for easing restrictions on these visas, pledging that he’d be willing “go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend”.

On the other hand, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon pilloried the H-1B visa programme as “a total and complete scam from its top to the bottom”.

The controversy isn’t just an ideological clash between right-wing nativists, who view immigrants as threats to US jobs and culture, and big tech titans eager to expand their access to global talent. Instead, it’s a fight for power over the future direction of Trumpism.

“The coalition of the tech right and the nationalist right was bound to be tested,” said writer Ali Breland. The test, it seems, has come even before Trump’s inauguration on January 20.

Just like Democrats are dealing with their own fissures between progressives and moderates........

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