Washington: Elon Musk has mounted a strong defence of the H-1B visa system, arguing that the United States has “benefited immensely” from the skills and innovation brought by Indian immigrants and other highly qualified professionals. He made the remarks during a conversation with Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath on the “WTF is?” podcast, released on Sunday.
Musk said American companies increasingly depend on high-skill workers from India, noting that his own firms routinely struggle to fill specialised roles because there is “always a scarcity of talented people”. While describing H-1B as a vital channel for global talent, he also stressed that the programme is open to abuse and needs targeted reform rather than drastic cutbacks.
He criticised outsourcing companies that “gamed the system” by using the visa route primarily to cut labour costs, urging policymakers to “stop the gaming of the system” instead of scrapping the programme altogether. Musk distanced himself from right-wing calls to shut H-1B down, warning that such a move would be “very bad” for the US economy and its technology leadership.
Linking the H-1B debate to wider immigration policy, Musk argued that earlier lax border policies created a perception of a “free-for-all” that encouraged illegal immigration and contributed to public backlash. He said meaningful border controls are essential to maintain confidence in the system, but insisted that high-skill legal migration remains crucial for US competitiveness.
Musk’s remarks come as President Donald Trump’s second administration pursues tougher oversight of H-1B while still acknowledging the need for skilled foreign workers. The programme, created in 1990, allows US employers to hire foreign professionals in speciality occupations and is capped at 65,000 new visas a year, with Indians accounting for a large majority of approvals, especially in technology roles.
Regulatory scrutiny has increased in Trump’s new term, including a recently announced additional fee of 100,000 dollars on fresh H-1B petitions filed after 21 September 2025, aimed at discouraging perceived loopholes and wage undercutting. Planned rule changes by the Department of Homeland Security are expected to tighten rules on cap exemptions, violators and third-party placements in the name of “programme integrity”.
Despite this tougher stance, Trump has repeatedly acknowledged in interviews that the US must keep attracting global talent, particularly in sectors where domestic skills are in short supply. He has argued that investors putting in “billions” need the ability to bring key personnel from abroad, and that many unemployed Americans cannot simply be “taken off an unemployment line” and placed into advanced technical roles overnight.
(Inputs from IANS)