Trump Used to Understand That Legal Immigration Hurts American Workers, Too. What Happened? | Opinion [Video]

The long-simmering debate over H-1B visas broke out into the mainstream over Christmas in a dispute that erupted over the appointment of Sriram Krishnan as Senior Policy Advisor for Artificial Intelligence to President-elect Donald Trump. Krishnan was born and raised in India and arrived in the U.S. via the L-1 visa when Microsoft transferred him from their India office, and he is a vocal supporter of expanding immigration, particularly from India. When his position was announced, Trump’s MAGA base erupted in a firestorm of criticism, enraged with what they saw as a betrayal by the tech world’s elite of the base. The criticism quickly expanded from Krishnan to three recent Silicon Valley converts to President Trump: Elon Musk, David Sacks, and Vivek Ramaswamy, who all voiced support for Krishnan, H-1B visas, and hiring foreign workers over American ones. What followed was a ten-day battle of words, as former allies became bitter …