US President-elect Donald Trump is in an unusual position – trying to please both billionaire tech guys who fund his campaigns and his hard-core base. Immigration and the H1B visa have become contentious among Trump’s core supporters and moderates. Trump has backed Elon Musk and Silicon Valley wealthy patrons who build their empires with hardworking H1B visa holders (Musk had an H1B visa himself).

While tech leaders want a liberal H1B visa regime, ‘America First’ hardliners wish for stricter restrictions on immigration at all levels. In his first term, Trump prioritised the interests of American citizens, which had significant implications on the H1B visas. Days before he takes office, debates have arisen over H-1B visas. Trump, who in his first term opposed the visa programme, now supports it. There are divisions within Trump’s team. The looming question is, will the second Trump term prioritise American workers, or will it revert to the traditional Republican stance that immigration is primarily designed to benefit employers? “America First” advocates argue that H-1B visas take jobs from American workers. Influential supporters like Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy claim they are crucial for addressing the engineer shortage in the US.

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Musk, a naturalised citizen from South Africa, has strongly backed the programme and expressed his readiness to “go to war” over it. Musk and Ramaswamy point to a........

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