Washington:

Elon Musk, whose net worth recently reached $400 billion, a historic first, began his professional journey working illegally in the United States several decades ago. And now his Tesla depends on H-1B workers. In fact, it has become one of the top 25 employers of H-1B workers, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data.

According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, approximately 580,000 people had H-1B visas in 2019.

Regardless, President-elect Donald Trump may tighten H-1B visa rules after he takes office on January 20 next year.

In 2020, he attempted to prune arriving immigrants by issuing an executive order suspending the issuance of H-1B visas and the entry of visa holders into the United States, saying it would protect American jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. 19. Regardless, this proposal was rejected because the president did not have the authority to do the same.

The United States caps the number of H-1B visas at 65,000 each year, with an additional 20,000 visas for holders of American advanced degrees.

“Trump’s tougher stance on immigration could lead to changes in visa rules, impacting Indian IT professionals and increasing costs for Indian IT companies” , said Ajay Srivastava, founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI).

Trump’s restrictive immigration policies raise concerns about the future of the H-1B visa program and his first term was marked by policies denying visa renewals, making it difficult to hire foreign workers qualified.

But with Elon Musk in the picture, co-chair of the new Department of Government Efficiency, which has had 1,787 H-1B visas approved for Tesla employees this year, we could be looking at a conflict of interest.

The “technoking,” as Musk prefers to be nicknamed, had worked illegally on a student visa for a Stanford University graduate program he did not enroll in to launch his tech career in the United States .

David Sacks, another tech executive who will work for the Trump administration, may well provoke some pushback on this issue, as he has said that tech CEOs want more H-1B visas.

In a podcast called “All-In” co-hosted by Sacks, tech investor Jason Calacanis and two other tech entrepreneurs, Calacanis had asked Trump if he would expand H-1B visas for tech workers.

“The most important point, in my opinion, Mr. President, is that we need highly skilled workers in this country,” Calacanis said. “Can you please promise us that you will give us more capacity to import the best and brightest from around the world to America?”

Trump said: “I promise, but I agree, that’s why I promise. Otherwise, I don’t promise.”

However, backtracking on his promise, his campaign said only “the most qualified graduates who can make a significant contribution to America” ​​would be able to stay, and that too after “the most aggressive selection process.”

But it will be interesting to see how the administration addresses this challenge if Musk and Sacks decide to strengthen H-1B visas.