Washington— Tesla CEO Elon Musk has come out strongly in support of the H-1B visa programme, arguing that the United States owes much of its technological and economic success to high-skilled immigrants from India. His remarks were made during a newly released conversation on Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath’s podcast, “WTF is?”
“America has been an immense beneficiary of talent from India,” Musk said, noting that companies like Tesla and SpaceX constantly struggle to fill highly specialised engineering roles. “There’s always a scarcity of talented people,” he added, calling the flow of skilled workers essential to U.S. innovation.
Musk: Fix the Problems, Don’t Kill the Programme
While praising the H-1B system, Musk acknowledged that it has been exploited, particularly by certain outsourcing firms.
“Some of the outsourcing companies have kind of gamed the system,” he said. “We should stop the gaming of the system, not shut it down.”
Rejecting arguments from hardline immigration critics, Musk said, “I’m absolutely not in the school of thought that we should shut down the H-1B programme.”
Immigration Debate Intensifies Under Trump’s Second Term
Musk’s comments come as the H-1B programme faces heightened scrutiny under President Donald Trump’s second-term administration, which has tightened enforcement while stopping short of proposing an outright ban.
In September, Trump introduced a steep $100,000 fee on all new H-1B petitions filed after Sept. 21, 2025 — a move the White House says targets employers exploiting “loopholes” to replace American workers. Renewals, existing visa holders, and 2025 lottery winners are exempt.
A Department of Homeland Security proposal expected in December is set to further tighten rules around cap exemptions, third-party worksites, and repeat violators in an effort to “improve programme integrity.”
Despite the tougher stance, Trump has repeatedly defended the economic necessity of the visas. “You do also have to bring in talent… We’re not going to be successful if we don’t allow people who invest billions to bring a lot of their people from their country,” he said in a recent Fox News interview.
He also dismissed suggestions that unemployed Americans could seamlessly fill advanced technical roles: “You can’t take people off an unemployment line and say, ‘I’m going to put you into a factory.’”
Indians Remain the Backbone of the H-1B System
Created in 1990, the H-1B visa allows U.S. employers to hire foreign professionals in speciality occupations. The programme’s annual cap stands at 65,000, with additional visas carved out for U.S.-educated advanced degree holders.
Indians dominate the programme: in 2024, they accounted for 71% of all approved H-1B petitions. Chinese nationals were a distant second at 12%. Total approvals — including renewals not subject to the cap — reached nearly 400,000.
A Strategic Workforce Pipeline
For Musk, the stakes are existential for U.S. technological competitiveness.
“We need the best people,” he said. “The U.S. has benefited enormously because it has been a magnet for talent.”
As debates over immigration, labor shortages, and economic growth converge, Musk’s comments put one of the tech industry’s most influential voices firmly on the side of maintaining — and reforming — the country’s most important skilled-worker pipeline. (Source: IANS)
