Bernie Sanders Criticizes Elon Musk over H1-B Visa Stance

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued a statement condemning Elon Musk’s stance on H1-B visas, instead agreeing with many of President-elect Donald Trump’s supporters that the program undermines the American worker.

As The Hill reports, Sanders posted his statement on Musk’s social media platform X, saying that “Elon Musk is wrong.”

“The main function of the H-1B visa program is not to hire ‘the best and the brightest,’ but rather to replace good-paying American jobs with low-wage indentured servants from abroad,” Senator Sanders wrote. “The cheaper the labor they hire, the more money the billionaires make.”

“If there is really a shortage of skilled tech workers in America, why did Tesla lay-off over 7,500 American workers this year — including many software developers and engineers at its factory in Austin, Texas — while being approved to employ thousands of H-1B guest workers?” Sanders asked.

“Bottom line,” the senator concluded, “It should never be cheaper for a corporation to hire a guest worker from overseas than an American worker.”

Sanders’ statement comes after former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who, alongside Musk, has been tasked with leading the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), posted a statement in support of H1-B visas in order to bring more immigrants from India, his parents’ home country. Many conservative users criticized this stance, pointing out that it directly contradicts President-elect Trump’s “America First” agenda. Musk joined the fray to take Ramaswamy’s side, eventually going on unhinged and profanity-laden tirades against anyone who disagreed with his stance.

The H1-B program is most frequently used by tech companies, but has also been susceptible to widespread fraud in bringing over low-skilled immigrants to work regular jobs that any American citizen could do just as easily, such as retail.

Despite identifying as a socialist and caucusing with the Democratic Party, Sanders has been in agreement with President Trump more often than most Democrats. He supported the 45th and 47th president’s actions on trade and tariffs, including his decision to terminate the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. Senator Sanders has also criticized the concept of open borders to allow in as many illegal aliens as possible, denouncing it as a “Koch brothers proposal.”