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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is positioning himself to the right of President-elect Donald Trump on immigration policy, particularly regarding the H-1B visa program. The division emerged after DeSantis criticized the program while Trump indicated his support for it, especially concerning its use by major business figures like Elon Musk to employ foreign college graduates.
Mark Krikorian, who leads the Center for Immigration Studies, suggests this political maneuvering by DeSantis is strategic, potentially aimed at securing the 2028 nomination ahead of incoming Vice President J.D. Vance.
During a January 9 press conference discussing potential Senate nominations, DeSantis delivered a scathing critique of the H-1B program. “So H-1B visas have been used to bring in people who can perform tasks at much cheaper rates than American workers. So we’ve had situations where companies will bring in H-1B [workers], the U.S. workers will train their own replacements, and then they fire the American workers. How is that something in the best interest of the American people?”
🚨 JUST IN: Governor Ron DeSantis goes off on H-1B visa system.
"We've got some BIG problems with some of the legal programs we have. This H-1B program – the Americans train the H-1B [workers], they fire the Americans and hire the H-1B. How would that even remotely be… pic.twitter.com/nzlBuD8uGd
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 13, 2025
He further explained: “Here’s the thing, when the corporation brings them in, the H-1Bs, they they work for less. They’re basically indentured servants. If Google brings you in, you can’t then just show up and work for Microsoft because they pay you more — you’re indentured to [Google]. So I think it’s been a horrible program in terms of how it’s done.”
DeSantis advocated for the O-visa program instead, stating: “You often hear we’ve got to bring in the best and the brightest. So if you have a budding Einstein in Botswana, you can bring them here [but] you would not use H-1B [visa] for that. We have something called the O[-1] visa … for people who are of extraordinary ability.”
The governor’s stance has resonated with Trump supporters who are concerned about the displacement of American workers. One Twitter user, Noumenon, expressed strong support for DeSantis’s 2028 prospects based on this position alone.
The controversy intensified during the Christmas period when Elon Musk sparked a heated debate on Twitter about the program. Despite polls indicating GOP voters’ opposition to white-collar migration programs, Trump offered partial support to Musk’s position.
DeSantis on H1-B visas: “I don’t support undercutting American wages, and the H1-B program has been used for that.”
As president, @RonDeSantis will make immigration policy that benefits Americans first. pic.twitter.com/hwq8YsulnM
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) August 15, 2023
Currently, various visa programs maintain approximately 1.5 million foreign contract workers in professional positions sought by American graduates. While the number of American engineering and computer science graduates has more than doubled since 2000, reaching 230,000 in 2022, a 2021 government report revealed that about half struggle to secure entry-level positions.
A Twitter user, WatersofBabylon, shared their experience: “When I go to work, in Silicon Valley, it’s rare I see any Americans at all. Everyone, literally, is Indian, with a smattering of Chinese. Just recently I was at a meeting of all director and above leaders for my product, and I was the only one (of about 25) who was not Indian male.”
While Democrats have largely remained silent on this growing divide within Trump’s coalition, they have historically supported both white-collar visa programs and southern migration, influenced significantly by California’s wealthy investors and their affiliated groups.