Ugh.
Elon, Elon, Elon….
Elon Musk apparently became annoyed at some Republican critics for criticizing him over his endorsement of H-1B visas, a work program that allows U.S companies to hire highly skilled non-Americans. So he stripped them of their “blue check” verification on their Twitter/”X” profiles
Laura Loomer, New York Young Republican Club president Gavin Wax, InfoWars host Owen Shroyer, and other far-right figures found that their verification badges had vanished on December 27 after they knocked Musk (and his DOGE co-captain Vivek Ramaswamy) for supporting the hiring of foreign-born engineers over their U.S. counterparts.
Former GOP Congressman and NeverTrumper Adam Kinzinger wrote in part, “So @elonmusk stripped the blue check because someone hurt his feelings?…If you love him great, but don’t pretend he’s for free speech.”
It’s risky to call the actions of a certifiable genius stupid, but boy, was that ever a stupid thing to do. Musk has advanced free speech by taking over Twitter, but he is high on the metaphorical hit list of the Left and MAGA foes like Kinzinger. Like President-Elect Trump, Musk cannot afford unforced errors and reckless own-foot-shootings, which this was.
We know, we know—Elon’s somewhere on the autistic spectrum and prone to impulsive outbursts. “X” is his kingdom, and the temptation, which he apparently cannot always resist, is to treat it as one. I get it; I have sometimes banned Ethics Alarms commenters who I felt were insulting to me personally, but this is a blog, not a national communication and debate platform. Musk has repeatedly claimed that he’s a free speech absolutist and that this was why he bought and reformed Twitter, which had become a censorious Axis propaganda mouthpiece. I think Musk is probably the 2024 Ethics Hero of the Year for that dramatic step because of its impact on the news media, social media, national civic discourse and the election. Nevertheless, his blue check attack is petty, ultimately useless, and only makes him an easier target.
Heck, my account has a blue check because I paid for it. It doesn’t really signify anything except, I suppose, greater interest in the platform. Under the previous proprietors I could never figure out what you did to earn the blue checks but I didn’t have one.
Musk is more a target now than ever. It’s fine for him to take the attitude that he doesn’t have to take any guff from anyone, there is more riding on his credibility and success now that he’s so deeply involved and identified with the new administration.
Loomer wrote,”@elonmusk took away my premium account tonight, limited my character limit, & canceled my subscriptions because I spoke out about mass migration.” and that he “removed my blue check mark on X because I dared to question his support for H1B visas, the replacement of American tech workers by Indian immigrants … Looks like Elon Musk is going to be silencing me for supporting original Trump immigration policies … I’m having my free speech silenced by a tech billionaire for simply questioning the tech oligarchy.”
Musk’s explanation was hardly clear or reassuring. “Any accounts found to be engaged in coordinated attacks to spam target accounts with mute/blocks will themselves be categorized—correctly—as spam. Live by the spam, die by the spam,” he wrote.
Oh.
Elon, Elon, Elon...
Ethics Alarms 
I just read about this on Holly Mathnerd’s blog, and she says that H-1B visas are not quite for the highly skilled. which is why Elon and co. are getting the pushback that they are. It seems we would be better off with more 0-1 visas:
https://hollymathnerd.substack.com/p/about-h-1b-visas
You what that description sounds like to me? O-1 visas are for the Albert Einsteins of the world. That’s great! But after we issue those 7 visas, we need a visa type that is more applicable to the rest of the business world.
Sure, that’s probably unfair. But, the writeup I saw on O-1A visas specifically mentioned that the Nobel Prize would be an automatic qualifier. We actually do need more than just the best of the best of the best.
Well THANK GOD that President Obama qualifies for a 0-1A visa then.
–Dwayne
Excellent Men In Black reference …
Disclaimer: While I do not practice immigration law, I have worked alongside immigration attorneys for over 20 years. Osmosis has given me a, perhaps unjustifiable, confidence that I am more informed than the average person on such matters.
The immigration system is a certainly a hodge-podge of policy decisions enacted into law. Just limiting oneself to a discussion about visas for employment, there is no simple explanation of the system.
There is the O-1 for the elites.
There is the H-1B.
But, that’s not all…
There are special visas for athletes. Imagine the NHL and the MLB with only U.S. and Canadian players. (The leagues themselves are international, as they both have teams in Canada.). Some of the biggest stars in the NBA have come from Europe, China, and Africa. The NBA could probably do fine with a completely American roster of players, but why would it not want such talent as Jokic, Gobert, Doncic, and Wembanyama? You need a special visa for that.
Religious orders have their own visas. If there is a shortage of Catholic Priests in the U.S. they need to bring them in from the Philippines, or Africa, or South America. There is a visa for that.
There are visas for seasonal agricultural work (the work Americans won’t do). It would allow Mexicans to enter the U.S. (legally), work in the fields (legally), get paid (legally), but you had to return to Mexico at the end of the season. But, you could come back again next year. Our illegal immigration system flouts this legal mechanism. people enter illegally, work illegally, get paid illegally (and typically for less than minimum wage), and they stay because they know if they leave they may never get back here.
There are visas for seasonal non-agricultural work.
There is the visa that allows foreign students to stay in the country for a couple of years to work, apply their learning, and learn skills here that they can take back to their home country. (Our law firm has employed several foreign lawyers over the years, all of whom were legally present in the U.S. Recently, we have gotten a number of applicants who came here to get an American law degree, typically an LLM, and have the ability to work for a few years. However, they need an employment sponsor. We have not gone through that process, but it is out there.)
And, the list goes on.
I disagree with Mathnerd’s statement that H-1Bs are used to underpay foreign employees. I believe all of the work visas require employers to pay their immigrant employees a “prevailing wage.” (That is where the Migrant Agricultural Worker visa system falls apart; the black market in agricultural labor, coupled with incompetent federal enforcement of the Southern Border makes it a joke to even use the system. The exploitation of workers comes from circumventing the immigration system.). The Labor Certification process requires an employer to show that they have advertised for a position, they can’t find qualified workers, they have a position that requires specialized knowledge or training, and they are willing to pay a wage that will not hurt the wages of other Americans.
(Interjection: This is a key point to keep in mind. I believe “all” of the employment visas require that that the visa not take jobs away from qualified Americans and that they not be used to pay below market wages that may lower wages for Americans. The system is supposed to be about helping American employers with a genuine need, but in a way that will not hurt other Americans. In the previous sentence, there is not a single word about helping the foreign worker, because the immigration system does not care about the foreign worker; it is only put in place to help the U.S.)
Mathnerd is correct: H-1Bs tie an employee to an employer. After all, the employer is the one seeking the visa and has the need. (Remember? The system is about helping U.S. employers find needed employees.). The employer pays to get a visa for the eligible employees. Why would an employer pay to get a needed employee who can simply walk across the street and get a different job? (Answer: they wouldn’t.)
H-1Bs are highly sought after, particularly out of scarcity. There was a cap on the number that could be issued every year. It got to the point that, if you did not have your visa application in on Day One, you would not get a visa: they ran out that fast. So, Bush 2 upped the number that would be available. The cap is still a problem, because the problem is a political one. Musk and Ramaswamy have just jumped into that political mess.
Oh, and, is the H-1B process subject to abuse? Absolutely! It is a non-immigrant visa, meaning that it is not to be used to gain citizenship. Is it used to gain citizenship? Absolutely! You come in on an H-1B, you get married to a U.S. citizen, or have a few kids who are U.S. citizens, you might be able to “adjust” your status from “non-immigrant” to “immigrant.” Why would we reward such abuse of the system? Remember: the entire immigration system is (or should be) about helping U.S. citizens. We don’t want to deport a bona fide spouse of one of our citizens, particularly because we have a process to allow citizens to bring their spouses here on immigrant visas, anyways. Is that system also abused? Absolutely! Immigration sees “sham marriages,” marriages used solely for immigration benefits all the time. They try to weed those out, though.
Anyway, that gets me off the topic. But, to address Jack’s article itself: 1) Musk’s position on immigration is completely defensible; 2) the position of Musk’s critics is likewise completely defensible; 3) Musk’s response was completely indefensible; and 4) his comment on his response was completely incomprehensible.
-Jut
Jut, an excellent brief on these and other visas. It accords with the limited amount I’ve seen — most of my foreign clients are here on student or research visas. Those are also non-immigrant visas, but I am pretty sure there are procedures for people to apply for green cards (permanent resident status, which can lead to citizenship).
There is also a visa (L-1 if memory serves) which allows employers to bring management or other top level employees from a foreign office or affiliate to the U.S. to work in one of their offices here. These are definitely non-immigrant and tied to the employer (these people already worked for that company but overseas).
From the brief look I took at H-1B visas, it looked like there were provisions for someone to apply to change employment from one company to another. I don’t know just how it’s done and it definitely did not look automatic, but there are some regulations in place.
One of the things about H-1B visas, which is typically not true of student visas (or athletic ones, I think) is that an H-1B visa holder is immediately eligible to start counting days of residence in order to file taxes as a U.S. resident. This is usually advantageous if all or most of their income is U.S. derived. Students on the other hand have a five year waiting period — but depending on whether they’re undergrad or graduate students their income may not be that high.
As you might imagine, tax treatment of legal aliens can often be a complex subject. We see more of it here because we have a major research university and humungous hospital complex that are major employers in town.
Most of what I’ve heard about H-1B visas is the business community bemoaning how low the caps are, that they would love to hire more (foreign) workers if they could. This is the first I’ve ever heard of them depressing wages – what Jut said on that subject makes a lot of sense.
Like so many other hypocrites, Musk is all about free speech… for himself, especially, and at least somewhat for those who agree with him. Everybody else? Not so much.