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Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy and the Silicon
Valley Tech Millionaire Group Continue
Lambasting Americans While Advocating
for Expanded Foreign Worker Visa

Original Article

Posted By: Mercedes44, 12/27/2024 5:58:21 AM

Six months ago, I was asked my opinion of the Silicon Valley alignment with MAGA. I said at the time I thought it would last around 18 months and finally climax with a large fracture in the political movement around 2026. I had no idea at the time, the group of technocrats would begin publicly advocating for replacing American workers before Trump took office. For the past several days I have watched Vivek Ramaswamy, David Sacks, Elon Musk and his big tech influencers debating with their followers about the importance for them to continue expanding H-1b visas for foreign tech workers.

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Reply 1 - Posted by: jeffkinnh 12/27/2024 6:13:19 AM (No. 1861722)
Sorry, I don't agree with this viewpoint. These visas allow us to LEGALLY get workers who can fill needs that available Americans can't. Plus such jobs spin off other jobs that Americans can do, in sales, production, management, and many other areas. Sure companies should document their needs and show their efforts to hire at home but this is a valid and necessary process that benefits many people.
32 people like this.

Reply 2 - Posted by: Nimby 12/27/2024 6:31:54 AM (No. 1861727)
I know for a fact that companies like Amazon have hired foreign students from Universities rather than their American peers!! This has to be stopped!!
24 people like this.

Reply 3 - Posted by: petrichor 12/27/2024 6:33:05 AM (No. 1861728)
Sorry, I see H1B visas as an opportunity to replace American workers with cheaper imported labor. That's the way it was wherever I worked. There would be an occasional star contractor, but typically they were fine people and generally competent. Perhaps things have changed today if American universities haven't kept up with trends in IT.
24 people like this.

Reply 4 - Posted by: Jesuslover54 12/27/2024 6:35:09 AM (No. 1861730)
They work for cheap.
19 people like this.

Reply 5 - Posted by: Sofia 12/27/2024 6:59:25 AM (No. 1861743)
There it is, attacking Vivek for his religion and skin color. I don’t care about this noise; first , show me proof that he said what you claim. Second, blaming the education system is not the same as blaming Americans. Third , I’ve heard him say we should come down on all abusers of the vis system so legal immigration can happen as intended for the benefit of the country. This fear that leads us to suspect someone only because they are brown and Hindu is sickening. Look for values being similar, not for race and religion similarity!!
22 people like this.

Reply 6 - Posted by: Strike3 12/27/2024 7:34:07 AM (No. 1861751)
I have many years of contract IT work under my belt and I can honestly say that all of the Indians, Chinese and other tech workers brought in under an H1B not only produced more and better quality work than most of their American counterparts but did not stampede for the door at quitting time. They appreciated their opportunity and got the job done without periodic long breaks down to Starbucks and surfing the Internet.
31 people like this.

Reply 7 - Posted by: downnout 12/27/2024 7:41:28 AM (No. 1861757)
Sundance should spend some time in an engineering department to open his closed mind.
22 people like this.

Reply 8 - Posted by: privateer 12/27/2024 7:57:59 AM (No. 1861767)
I'll add: if the rest of the world is so great...why are you here? I do find it a little sad that the DOGE effort is outsourced to two foreigners. Still...if it works...
6 people like this.

Reply 9 - Posted by: Nimby 12/27/2024 8:48:00 AM (No. 1861797)
Please read the Rules. Addressing other posters is not permitted. LCom is not a chat room.
6 people like this.

Reply 10 - Posted by: 66Strat 12/27/2024 9:08:07 AM (No. 1861807)
I always found H-1B colleagues to be hard working, bright, and professional and would never speak a word against them on a personal level. That said, they definitely, without a doubt, do replace American citizens in the workforce as they are contracted at a significantly lower pay rate. Whole departments are easily and cheaply outsourced. The H-1B dynamic as it exists now is definitely not America first.
15 people like this.

Reply 11 - Posted by: red1066 12/27/2024 9:10:50 AM (No. 1861810)
Every time this issue comes up, I go back to the story about Disney from twenty years ago. Disney hired workers from India to replace American employees who ran the animatronics and such at Disney World. The American employees were to get a severance package, but only after they trained their replacements. If the American employees refused to do this, then they would not receive any severance package. The sole reason the American workers were being replaced was because the people from India worked for less money, not because they couldn't do the job. Some of those American employees had worked for Disney for decades. I believe lawsuits were being brought against Disney by the American workers. The story disappeared from the news so I'm not sure what the outcome of those lawsuits happened to be, but I never forgot the story.
22 people like this.

Reply 12 - Posted by: Ruhn 12/27/2024 9:35:52 AM (No. 1861834)
I do not claim to be an expert on visas or immigration law. However, what open-source information there is regarding the topic indicates that the H-1B visa program has been abused for decades, particularly in the hi-tech industry. From William Upton of the National Pulse: "H-1Bs benefit tech companies on two key points: - First, on average, H1B workers are paid significantly less than their American-born counterparts. This effectively puts downward pressure on wages across the industry,, meaning American workers also get paid les; - Secondly, because the visa is attached to the sponsor company, the foreign worker lacks leverage afforded to American-born workers who can demand higher salaries by simply looking to take a job with a different firm." If Elon, Vivek and David truly want to recruit the best offshore talent, all three (including Trump) need to look at the O-1 visa program which grants legal status to "once-in-a-generation intellectual talent in a critical industrial sector" that is NOT at the expense of the American worker.
11 people like this.

Reply 13 - Posted by: snowoutlaw 12/27/2024 11:07:51 AM (No. 1861900)
H1B should only be used when it can be proven the position can't be filled by an American. There are many under employed engineers and techs that can fill the H1B positions except they won't for the wages being offered. Every time a H1B person is brought in the average wage drops, this directly effects me and everyone that works in these types of jobs.
3 people like this.

Reply 14 - Posted by: ARKfamily 12/27/2024 11:15:53 AM (No. 1861907)
A person can see it both ways. It is a challenge finding the IT talent because it is limited. Yet, some of the people that are brought to the USA may be more of a liability than an asset. Pay wise, you have to hope the company is being upfront and honest. With that said, companies are having to absorb a risk by sponsoring an employee using a VISA. I am not so certain that I would quickly criticize Elon or Vivek. . .
2 people like this.

Reply 15 - Posted by: MattMusson1 12/27/2024 12:05:19 PM (No. 1861935)
H1B immigrants have driven down IT salaries and personally cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars across my career. It's not just roofers and lawn services that are losing out to immigrants.
8 people like this.

Reply 16 - Posted by: danu 12/27/2024 12:09:12 PM (No. 1861940)
hb1 is more like a hostile takeover programme-gussied up in virtue signalling, by the uber-rich who prefer to staff their 'needs' with the uber-poor--and have the political stroke to do so.
1 person likes this.

Reply 17 - Posted by: jimkata 12/27/2024 1:06:34 PM (No. 1861979)
This robs US citizens of jobs. There are plenty of qualified tech people who are US citizens. THIS IS A SCAM. As an engineer I know how this works in the tech world. The green card engineers are woefully underpaid for their position. It makes money for the company, of course by paying these relatively low engineering wages and at the same time cutting out US citizens who can do the work... but who demand the actual going rate. Apple of Microsoft had or has a ship outside US limits off the California coast to handle computing so as to pay the foreign engineers low wages. 30 years ago I made $35 and hour as a contractor (not much in today's market for engineering) but the green card guys I worked with made $18 to $20 an hour. Imagine what it is today.
3 people like this.

Reply 18 - Posted by: J. Arthur Brown 12/27/2024 2:22:25 PM (No. 1861998)
MAGA must become capable of using Elon's and Vivek's talents without being used by them or it will self-destruct.
3 people like this.

Reply 19 - Posted by: SpentPenny 12/27/2024 8:48:44 PM (No. 1862169)
That so-called conservative site and that author are working hard to pre-emptively destroy any possible success Trump may have. That site is pure drivel, unworthy of the time to read it.
1 person likes this.

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